Two weeks after Pony and I were told about being valedictorian and salutatorian, he asked me if I wanted to go on a date on that coming Saturday, to which I obviously said yes.
I taught the girls in the morning before stopping off at home, taking a quick shower, and going to work at the bookstore. When my hair was only a little damp, I put it into a braid to get it out of my face and make it wavy when it finally dried.
I got out of work a little early and went back home to get ready. While I was walking, I re-read the letter that Two-Bit had recently sent.
"Dear Lily,
Sorry its taken me so long to write back to you. I couldn't remember for the life of me. Me and Sodapop are both safe here and are gonna to be shipped off in a few days. We'll write back when we get to Vietnam so y'all can know where to send your letters. We got the pictures that you sent us from you and Pony's prom and you looked great. Pony wouldn't stop going on about how beautiful you looked in his letters to us. I wish I could be there for your graduation and I know Soda does to. How is everyone? Is Rachel doing alright? Make sure to send us more pictures of graduation and whatever else. Love you, doll.
Two-Bit Mathews"
"What're we gonna do with you, Keith Mathews?" I laughed to myself as I tucked the letter back into the pocket of my jeans.
When I got home, I put on a pretty white sundress that had little teal and blue flowers scattered around it, a grey sweater, my grey Converse, and my ring, necklace, and some little silver studs before taking my hair out of the braid and hair-spraying the waves. As I was putting on some mascara and light pink lipstick, I heard Mom call me downstairs.
"Lily! Ponyboy's here!"
After checking that I had everything that I was going to bring, I came downstairs to see my parents and Anna and Henry all gathered in the living room with strangely giddy smiles on their faces.
"Are y'all okay?" I asked.
"'Course we are", Anna said. "You got everything?"
"Yeah…", I answered, trailing off in confusion.
When I felt a pair of arms around my waist, I smiled and looked back to see my boyfriend.
"Hey, honey", I smiled.
"Hey, darlin'", he grinned back as he let me go. "You ready t'go?"
"Yep", I said before turning back to my family. "I'll see y'all later. Love you."
"Love you too", they said back.
"What was that all about?" I asked Pony once we got in the truck.
"I dunno", he shrugged. "Prob'ly nothing."
He started to drive and not long after, we were out of Tulsa.
"You gonna tell me where we're goin' yet?" I asked.
"Nope", he smirked.
I heaved an overly-dramatic sigh and yawned. "I think I'm gonna take a little nap."
"Okay", Pony said, taking my left hand and kissing the back of it before putting it back down.
XxXxXxXxXx
A while later, I woke up, rubbing my eyes carefully as to not smear my makeup.
Pony looked over at me when he saw me stir and smiled lightly. "Have a nice nap?"
"Mm-hmm", I hummed with a slight nod as I fixed my hair and made sure that I didn't have any drool on the corners of my mouth.
I took one of Pony's hands off of the wheel and checked his watch, which told me that I had been sleeping for close to an hour and a half.
"We're almost there", he chuckled as he put his hand back on the wheel. "Just about another half-hour."
"Alright", I responded while my grogginess wore off. Leaning over slightly, I turned on the radio and adjusted the knobs until I found a channel that I liked.
Several songs came on before "Can't Take My Eyes Off of You", though when I heard its opening notes, I turned up the volume and started singing along.
Ponyboy was laughing at me a little as he drummed his finger against the steering wheel to the beat.
I turned towards him and belted out the chorus when it came on. He laughed wholeheartedly and joined in, keeping his eyes on the road.
"I love you, baby!
And if it's quite alright, I need you, baby
To warm the lonely night.
I love you, baby.
Trust in me when I say:
Oh, pretty baby!
Don't bring me down, I pray.
Oh, pretty baby, now that I found you, stay.
And let me love you, baby.
Let me love you.
You're just too good to be true.
Can't take my eyes off of you…"
As the song ended, I turned the volume back down and the truck slowed down to a stop soon after.
When I got out of the truck to stretch my legs, I looked around and saw that we were in what looked like the countryside. A sea of bright green grass stretched out all the way to the horizon. Beautiful, vibrant wildflowers in purples, pinks, and yellows were scattered everywhere and added pastel-colored dots to the landscape for as far as the eye could see.
"It's beautiful", I whispered.
"It is, isn't it?" I heard Pony say from behind me. He was holding a picnic basket and was smiling sweetly. "This's where we used to come with Mom and Dad."
I smiled sadly at him and took his free hand in mine before leading him out into the field, where we soon found a spot to set up our blanket that was in the middle of a cluster of flowers, but not too far from the truck.
I sat back on my hands and looked out at the horizon, enjoying everything around me. It was warm outside but not too hot or cold and the sun shone brilliantly in the cloudless cerulean sky. The light breeze blew around the sweet smells of the grass and flowers and tousled my hair, causing me to smile contentedly.
When I felt my hair and something else being tucked behind my ear, I opened my eyes to see my handsome boyfriend staring at me. Lifting a hand and lightly touching whatever was by my ear, I felt the soft petals of a flower.
"Why're you staring at me?" I asked him.
"Because you're beautiful", he answered simply, taking my hand.
I blushed and lay my head on his shoulder. "Thanks."
"You're welcome."
The two of us sat there together in a comfortable silence for a while, just enjoying each other's company. That was, until Ponyboy's stomach made an obscenely loud grumbling noise.
"You hungry?" I laughed.
"Maybe just a little", he smirked. He pulled the picnic basket closer to us and opened it up, taking out two plates covered by aluminum foil and a couple of water bottles. The plates were uncovered to contain sandwiches on one and cake on the other.
"Did you make all this?" I asked as Pony handed me a sandwich.
"Yeah", he nodded with a slight blush.
I smiled and kissed his cheek. "You're so sweet."
The sandwiches were actually pretty good and so was the cake. As I ate the latter, I did a little dance, wiggling my shoulders.
"What're you doin'?" Pony laughed.
"Dancing."
"Why?"
"Because I'm happy and I like chocolate cake", I responded with a grin.
"You're such a weirdo."
"But you still love me", I sing-songed.
"I definitely do", he smiled and kissed my temple.
That was when I noticed his clothes. He looked a little more nicely dressed than usual, not to say he wasn't usually dressed nicely. He was wearing a red flannel that I had never seen on him before, a pair of clean blue jeans, and a relatively clean pair of black Converse.
"Is that shirt new?"
"Yeah. Why, you like it?"
I nodded. "It looks nice on you."
"Thanks, darlin'."
"You're welcome."
We sat there for a while, talking about random things and enjoying ourselves.
"Want me t'put on some music?" Pony asked after about an hour.
"Sure."
He got up and went over to the truck, turning it on and putting on the radio.
"You sure you won't run outta gas with the car on?" I asked.
"Not long before you woke up on the ride, I stopped off and got some gas, so we've got a full tank. We'll be okay, darlin'. Don't you worry."
He walked back over to me and held out his hand. "Wanna dance?'
"Of course", I smiled, accepting his hand and standing up.
He held my waist with one hand and kept the other in mine while I put my free hand on his shoulder, and he waltzed me around in the grass to the sounds of 'Oh, How Happy' by Shades of Blue.
"D'you remember our first anniversary?" I asked as I heard the opening notes of 'Do You Love Me?'. "How you walked in on me dancing?"
"How could I forget?' he laughed. "It was to this song."
"I could try and teach you how t'do that kinda dancing", I suggested. "No one's around and I don't care how stupid you might look, if you're concerned about it."
He rolled his eyes playfully. "Sure. Why not?"
I took his hands and led them lower to my hips, watching a slight blush form on his face before wrapping my arms around his neck.
"Now move your hips in a circle", I instructed.
He stared at me for a moment. "I'm not sure I trust myself t'do that."
"That's alright", I giggled. "There's no harm in trying."
He sighed, but did as I said, much to my amusement. Every movement was absurdly over-exaggerated and he swung his hips far enough away from himself that he bent at the waist and looked like he could keel over at any moment.
"Oh, honey", I laughed. "That's not it at all. C'mere, let me show you." I put my hands on his hips and moved them correctly for him. "There, now try again."
The next time was definitely better. He didn't look like he was trying to throw out a hip, at least.
"You gotta do it with me now", I told him as I put my arms back around his neck.
"Okay", he agreed before starting to move like I had shown him. I rolled and swung my hips in unison with his and ran one of my hands down from his neck to his shoulder.
It didn't take long for him to move with me on the right beats; he had always had a great sense of rhythm. After a little while, he pulled me closer to him so my body was flush against his.
"Feel like we're at Buck's?" I asked him while swinging my hips sharply from side to side.
"You're classier than any of the gals at Buck's, darlin'."
I blushed a bit and laughed. "Well, it matters on who's there. There could be a herd of Soc girls there. Ya' never know."
"You're not disproving my point", he laughed and dipped me, catching me by surprise and causing me to squeak. This made him laugh even harder.
"I think I'm gettin' the hang of this", Pony said as "Love Man" by Otis Redding came on.
"I think so too", I grinned.
We continued to dance for a while, which eventually just spiraled into us acting like complete lunatics. That was one of the best things about being in love with someone that was your best friend: you could be yourself and be a total weirdo around them and they wouldn't care.
"Darlin'", he said to get my attention and pointed to the horizon. "Look. The sun's setting."
I looked over and saw one of the most beautiful sunsets I had ever seen. Some clouds had formed in the sky while we had been in the country and they turned brilliantly bright and vibrant in the setting sun. The ones near the Sun were fiery reds and oranges and the ones a little further away that were soft, delicate pinks and peaches. Then there were the ones that faded out from those, which were gorgeous shades of purple and blue.
"It's beautiful", I murmured.
"Yeah", Pony agreed, and not a moment later, "Love Me Tender" started to play. He smiled and pulled me close to him, his arms wrapping around my waist and holding me securely as mine went around his neck. I rested my head comfortably on his shoulder and smiled at the familiar scent of his cologne. I could still remember smelling it on him when we were fourteen and just starting to date.
He sang along with the music, his smooth deep voice running through my head. In that moment, there was nothing I would rather have heard.
"Love me tender, love me sweet.
Never let me go.
You have made my life complete and I love you so.
Love me tender, love me true
All my dreams fulfilled.
For, my darling, I love you, and I always will.
Love me tender, love me long
Take me to your heart.
For it's there that I belong and we'll never part.
Love me tender, love me true
All my dreams fulfilled.
For, my darling, I love you, and I always will.
Love me tender, love me, dear.
Tell me you are mine.
I'll be yours through all the years, 'til the end of time.
Love me tender, love me true.
All my dreams fulfilled.
For, my darling, I love you, and I always will."
"Thank you for today, love", I whispered when the song ended. "It's been perfect."
"You're welcome, Princess", he replied with a kiss on my cheek. He pulled away from me slightly and looked deeply into my eyes, holding my hands tightly in his. His eyes looked a bright forest-green in the sunlight.
"Lily, I love you more than anything in the world. I know it sounds really cliché, but it's true", Pony said, making me laugh. "You're the one that's made my life worthwhile at times and I'm so thankful that I've got you with me. You're my rock and my best friend and the love of my life and I could never ask for anyone better. You've taught me things that I never knew and shown me how t'be a better person."
Tears came to my eyes at his words and I started to get choked up. "You're all that to me too, Ponyboy", I said.
He smiled lightly at me and continued. "After Mom and Dad died, I didn't know how long I could go on even with the gang, but then I met you. I fell in love with you the moment I saw you and haven't stopped since. When Johnny and Dally died, I was ready to give up then and there, but you saved me and helped me live my life again and I'm so grateful for that. These past three years've been some of the hardest of my entire life, but also some of the best all because of you."
I smiled up at him and nodded along at his words. He took a hand away from mine and gently wiped my cheek with his thumb, then the side of my eye where mascara must have been smearing. I had no idea why he was saying all of these incredibly romantic and beautiful things to me, but I let him continue.
"I know we're both young and not even outta high school yet, but I've wanted t'do this for a long time and I can't wait any longer", he said in a thick, emotional voice, getting down on one knee in front of me and pulling a small velvet box out of his jeans' pocket with the hand that wasn't still holding mine. "I wanna spend the rest of my life with you. I want to wake up next to you every day and fall asleep next to you every night. I want to start a family with you and love you for as long as I'm alive. So, Lily Grace Smith, will you marry me?"
When I finally realized what he was doing, I started to sob uncontrollably. I didn't even have to think about my response.
"Yes!" I answered. "Yes, Ponyboy, yes!"
He smiled wider than I had ever seen, stood back up, and spun me around as I cried and laughed and shook and felt every amazing emotion that there was.
When he put me back down, he leaned down and gave me the most beautiful, loving, and passionate kiss that we had ever shared.
"I love you so much, Lily", he whispered against my lips.
"I love you so much, Ponyboy", I replied and gave him another tear-filled kiss. "And I always will."
Pony took my left hand, carefully taking the promise ring that he had given me on our first anniversary off of my ring finger and slipping on the most beautiful ring that I had ever seen. It was silver with a diamond and incredibly gorgeous delicate detailing around the band and setting.
"Ponyboy, this is beautiful", I whispered in shock.
"It was Mom's", he smiled with tears in his eyes. "She told me that she'd give it to me when I met the right girl and after her and Dad died, it was given to me. You're the right girl, the one I wanna spend the rest of my life with, so it's yours now."
That set off a whole new round of crying, and I hugged Pony and kissed his cheek.
Soon, he turned off the truck and we lay in the back, watching the stars.
"I forgot how many stars you can see out here", Pony murmured as he pulled me closer to him.
"There's so many of them."
"Yeah."
"I wish I knew more constellations. If I did, I could recognize all of 'em out here."
"Well, you've already got me beat", Pony laughed. "I only know one."
"And which one's that?"
"The Big Dipper. Everyone knows that one, though."
"One's better than nothing", I pointed out.
"I guess that's true", he said.
For some reason, the full force of our engagement didn't hit me until right then.
"Ponyboy", I gasped.
"Yeah?"
"I'm gonna be Lily Curtis. We're gonna be married. You're gonna be my husband."
"Yep", he laughed. "And you're gonna be my wife."
"I like the sound of that. Me being your wife. You being my husband. Being married."
"I like it too", Pony smiled, kissing my temple. "I can't wait to call you Mrs. Curtis."
"Lily Grace Curtis", I said quietly since I knew that I wanted to keep my middle name and not have my last as my maiden name. "I love it."
"So do I."
XxXxXxXxXx
When we got back into Tulsa, we drove to the Curtis' house and opened the door to find the house completely empty.
"Where's Darry?" I asked.
"He's staying the night and morning at Ruth's", Pony answered, coming up behind me, wrapping his arms around my waist, and nuzzling his head into my neck.
"When was the last time we were alone together in your house for a night?"
"I don't think we ever have been. That's why I asked Darry if he could go somewhere."
I turned around his arms and put mine around his neck. "You planned this?"
He nodded shyly. "We don't really get t'be alone together and I thought now'd be a good time for it, with the proposal and all."
"You're sweet", I smiled, leaning up to give him a kiss on the nose. "The sweetest guy I could ever hope for."
"And you", he said, enunciating yeah word with a kiss, "are the sweetest girl I could ever ask for."
I giggled into the kisses and even more so when he started to tickle my sides.
"Stop!" I wheezed. "Pony, stop! You're gonna make me cry!"
After a while, he did finally stop, letting me take a few deep breaths as he laughed at my expense. When I had finally calmed down, he picked me up bridal style and carried me to his bedroom, placing me on the bed like I was made of fragile porcelain.
I slipped off my shoes and sweater and took the flower out of my hair. It was pink, small, and looked so delicate that a single touch would made it wilt.
"I like the freckles on your shoulders", Pony said as he unbuttoned his flannel and took it off, leaving him in a white wife-beater as he sat on the bed next to me.
"Thanks", I laughed. "Anything else?"
"Damn", he chuckled. "Everything else."
I cocked an eyebrow and smirked at him.
"I love your shoulders and your arms and your stomach and your waist and your hips…", he said, kissing each place as he mentioned it. When he got down to my feet, he kissed his way back up, making me laugh. "…and I love your neck and your chin and your cheeks and your lips and nose and eyes and forehead and hair."
"That's quite the extensive list", I laughed.
"Well I love an extensive amount of things about you."
I then noticed that he hadn't mentioned my chest or behind.
"What about my boobs and butt?" I teased.
Pony's face turned bright red. "Well, I've never seen either, but I'm sure that I love them as much as the rest of you."
My face turned red as well as I thought of something. "Ponyboy?"
"Yeah, Princess?"
"Have you ever thought about…y'know…having sex?" I asked quietly.
"Have I ever thought about what?" he asked, scooting closer to me and holding my hands in his.
"Having sex…"
"Well, yeah, I've thought about it", he said sheepishly. "Have you?"
"Mm-hmm", I nodded.
"I don't really like callin' it that, though. 'Having sex' just sounds kinda meaningless and casual or something."
"What would you rather call it?" I asked.
"If we're talkin' about you and me, I'd rather call it 'making love'", he smiled shyly. "It sounds more personal and like we really love each other, which we do."
"I think I like that better too", I admitted.
"Why do you ask? Do you wanna…y'know…?"
"Kinda", I said, blushing and looking down at Pony and I's intertwined hands. "I mean, I love you more than anything and I feel like we're ready."
"Are you sure? I don't wanna do anything until you're ready." He carefully lifted my chin and looked at my face.
"Yeah, I know I'm ready", I decided. "There's no one I would rather do it with."
"You're sure you don't feel pressured?"
"Positive."
"I don't know what I'm doing", he said.
"Neither do I", I laughed. "But we can figure it out together."
He still looked a bit concerned. "But what if I hurt you? I heard it hurts for the girls."
I smiled and cupped his cheek. "I'll be fine. If anything hurts, I'll make sure to tell you, okay?"
Pony grinned sweetly back at me and nodded. "You wanna lie down?"
"Sure."
And so we did, him laying me down on the bed and hovering over me, carefully propping himself up with his elbows so his full weight wouldn't be on top of me.
"What do we do now?" I whispered even though we were the only ones in the house.
"I think kissing's a good place to start", he told me before softly pressing his lips to mine. I kissed him back and wrapped my arms loosely around his neck.
Soon, his mouth trailed down to my neck and kissed the place where he had left a hickey all that time ago. When he was happy with what he had done, he went back to kissing my lips.
"Did you leave a hickey again?" I asked him with a smile.
"Maybe…", he said with a mischievous grin.
I laughed. "You're such an ass."
"Love you too, baby", he smirked.
Without any warning, I then started kissing his neck as payback, not stopping until I had left a significantly large sized hickey.
"You happy now?"
"Very", I smiled before kissing him again.
After a little while, his hand trailed down from my waist to my hip then to the hem of my dress.
He tensed against my lips and I could feel him taking his hand off of my leg. I carefully took his hand and put it back on my lower thigh.
"It's okay", I muttered against his lips. "You can put your hand there."
"You sure?"
"Yeah."
Pony nodded slightly and lightly traced the hemline with his finger before edging his hand up a little further. When he got to the outside of my upper thigh, he stopped again.
"What's wrong?" I asked.
"There're scars on your leg. Are you okay? Did Angela do anything that I didn't know about?"
"Love, I'm fine. They're just stretch-marks."
His brow creased and he trailed his fingers across the scarring. "What?"
"When I was growing, I grew too fast for my skin to keep up, so it tore and made scars. They're called stretch-marks."
"So it's okay?" he asked. "You're not hurt?"
I laughed. "No, I'm not hurt, honey. It's sweet that you're worried, though."
"Is now when we start taking our clothes off?"
"I think so…but do we take our own off or each other's?"
"I'm not sure."
Pony leaned down and rested his forehead on mine, laughing hysterically, which caused me to do the same.
"What's so funny?" I finally got enough breath to ask.
"We're just so awkward", he wheezed out.
"You're such a goofball", I giggled. "And I love you for it."
"I love you too", he smiled as he finally calmed down.
"Now let's get this sorted out- we can take each other's off and see how it goes. If all else fails, we resort to Plan B. Capiche?"
"Got it", he chuckled. "But who's gonna go first?"
"You can take something off me if you want to", I told him, suddenly shy and blushing.
"If you're sure."
"Yeah, I am."
I slipped off my socks as he scoured the back of my dress for the zipper.
"Okay, where is it?" he finally asked with a sigh.
"On my side", I laughed, leading his hand to where the zipper started, right under my right underarm.
"Oh."
"Don't worry about it, honey. It's in a weird place.'
He kissed my nose and carefully unzipped the dress, slipped the straps off of my shoulders, and pulled it down my legs.
"Where do you want me to put it?"
"The floor's okay."
After the dress was put on the floor, Ponyboy turned back to me and stared. I was now in from of him in only a lacy nude bra and pink underwear.
I had never liked how much lace was on the bra because of how much it poked out my shirts and dresses, but since I was such a large size, pretty much the only styles were available were covered in the stuff. But as I lay in it in front of my fiancé, I was happy that I had worn it because as annoying as the lace was, it was pretty.
"Can I…?" he trailed off, his eyes flicking back and forth from my face to my chest.
I shyly nodded and watched as he lightly traced the outline of the bra with his finger. Idiotically enough, one of the only things I could think of was if he liked it or not.
"Do you wanna take off my shirt or pants or something?"
"Sure", I blushed as I undid his belt and slipped off his shirt with shaky hands. Both were dropped to the floor before I took off his pants and did the same to them.
I guess he could feel that my hands were still quaking a little because he held them in his and softly kissed my knuckles.
"You okay?" he asked.
"Yeah", I laughed a little. "Just kinda nervous."
"So am I, but it's just you and me here. Nobody else but us."
I smiled at him and squeezed his hands before releasing mine from his and bringing them to his back. I ran them up his back, feeling the smooth skin that was rippled with muscle and staring at him in admiration. Some of the hair from his hairline was falling into his face, so I brushed it back, causing him to let out a small chuckle. He had freckles scattered across his nose and cheeks that weren't very visible because he was fairly tan, but up close they were impossible to miss. His cheeks and lips were red from the kissing we had been doing and his breaths were soft as he searched my face with his gorgeous green eyes.
That shade of green was permanently etched into my head, though I wouldn't have it any other way. I could be doing my homework and notice that one of the paintings that was used for reference in our history textbook contained that color and my thoughts would flee from the task at hand and change to him: the sweet bookish boy that I had fallen in love with when we were barely teenagers and come to love even more with each passing day.
I thought of him on the night he had asked me to be his girlfriend and we kissed for the first time. I remembered the look of bravery and fearlessness he had worn when charging into the burning church to save the children inside, which quickly gave way to fear and panic in the ambulance. There was his earth-shattering devastation at the deaths of Dally and Johnny the next day and his denial for weeks afterward. When we first said we loved each other after he had shown me Johnny's letter to him, his entire face lit up like a Christmas tree. These examples continued on and on and every time I thought of one where he looked at me it seemed like the amount of love in his eyes only grew. In that moment, though, I couldn't think of a time that surpassed his expression right then; it seemed as though our love had peaked at the very top of some universal chart and would stay there forever.
He was completely perfect and I wanted to tell him, but I felt like it would sound strange. Before I could stop them, though, the words started to come out of my mouth.
"Would it be weird…would it be weird if I said…", I trailed off, too embarrassed to say what was on my mind.
"If you said what?" he asked gently as he tucked some hair behind my ear. "You can tell me anything."
"…if I said you're perfect", I finished quietly. My face was on fire as I spoke and was probably glowing red.
He laughed and gave me a kiss on the forehead. "No, it's not weird, it's really sweet. And thank you, but I have to say that you're a million times more perfect than anyone, especially me."
"Thank you."
Ponyboy ran his thumb along my hipbone for a moment before bringing his hand up my side and letting it settle at my waist.
"D'you want me to take off your bra?" he asked.
"If you want to", I whispered.
After a few minutes, he eventually got it off and soon enough, neither of us had anything on and he was putting a blanket over his back and letting it drape over us so we weren't out in the open, even though no one else was home.
"You're so incredibly beautiful and amazing and I love you so much", he murmured as he caressed my cheek with his thumb.
Then for some reason, I started crying a little.
"I love you too", I said. "I love you so much."
He smiled sweetly and wiped my cheeks. "Are you sure you wanna do this?"
"Yeah", I nodded. "I'm positive."
"Okay", he whispered, giving me a gentle kiss. "Just tell me if it hurts. If it does, I'll stop."
"I love you, Ponyboy", I told him again before kissing him again.
"I love you too, Lily", he smiled. "And I always will."
It was uncomfortable and awkward and painful at times, but we did it. I couldn't have been happier and I could tell the same went for him.
Afterwards, we lay under the blankets facing each other. I was exhausted and could barely keep my eyes open.
"Are you sure you're okay?" Ponyboy asked as he twisted my hair around his finger. "I didn't hurt you, did I?"
"I'm just perfect", I sighed contentedly with a laugh. "I couldn't be better."
"Good", he smiled, pulling me closer to him and pressing a kiss to my forehead. "You tired, darlin'?"
I nodded and buried my head into his chest. I could smell his cologne and the scents of sunlight and grass from the country.
His hand slowly rubbed my bare back. "Go to sleep. I'll be right here when you wake up."
"I love you, Ponyboy", I told him as I drifted off.
Right before I fell asleep, I felt him kiss the crown of my head and say, "I love you too, Mrs. Curtis. And I always will."
XxXxXxXxXx
The next morning, I woke up to the sun streaming through the window. After I rubbed the sleep from my eyes, I looked over and saw that Pony wasn't next to me anymore. The clock read 10 o'clock.
The day before seemed like a dream. To make sure that it wasn't, I looked at my left hand and saw my engagement ring glimmering in the sunlight.
That was when I noticed that I was naked under the covers and remembered the events of the night before, causing me to grin and blush heavily.
The door opened and Pony walked in carrying a tray and dressed only in his boxers. I lay under the blankets and watched as he came over to the bed and set the tray down near the footboard.
"Good morning, darlin'", he smiled as he got under the blanket with me. "How'd you sleep?"
"Good. You?"
"Wonderfully. I made breakfast."
"You didn't have to do that", I said. "You could've woken me up."
"You looked too peaceful to wake up, so I let you sleep", he told me. We both sat up and he pulled the tray over to us. "You like your eggs scrambled, right?"
"Yeah", I laughed and gave him a kiss. "Thank you, honey."
"You're welcome." He handed me a fork and set a plate on my lap.
The two of us occasionally talked as we ate, but most of that time was spent in a comfortable silence. When I was finished, I leaned my head on his shoulder.
"How're you feelin'?" he asked.
"Great", I smiled up at him. "What about you?"
"Never been better, Mrs. Curtis."
"I'm not officially Mrs. Curtis yet", I reminded him.
"Well, I'm gonna keep callin' you that until you are and then after that."
"I'm not complainin'."
"Neither am I. I'm so happy that we'll get t'spend the rest of our lives together."
"I can't wait t'be able to wake up next to you every day."
"Well, there'll be a point where our kids'll be the ones wakin' us up", Ponyboy laughed.
"And I can't wait until then too", I said, kissing his nose.
"Ditto", he smiled and lightly kissed my forehead. "I love you so much, darlin'."
"I love you too, honey", I told him as I looked up into his green eyes that were shining with happiness. "And I always will."
IT HAPPENED! They're finally engaged! I'm so sorry that it's taken me such a long time to update, but vacation was hectic and the I edited this chapter relentlessly to make it as perfect as possible. During vacation, I also got into "Stranger Things" and I'm now thinking about making a story about that, but we'll see. I hope all of you had a wonderful Christmas/Hanukkah/ Kwanza/ Boxing Day etc. and I wish everyone the best in 2018. When I began all of this, I never expected as much as love and support as I got and I'm so thankful for all of you. Your comments never fail to brighten up my day. I love y'all and stay gold!- AthenaRavenclaw13
P.S- The spelling errors in Two-Bit's letter are intentional