Porcelain

Chapter 69

Dally was nervous, which was very uncharacteristic for him, but what he was about to do was even more so. Never in his life did he ever even think about getting married, and here he was, eighteen years old, about to propose to the woman he loved. Nothing about the scenario was really in character for him, but here he was.

The first thing he'd had to figure out was the ring. Estelle hadn't known that he had picked up her grandmother's engagement ring back so long ago from her mother's jewelry box before they left Tulsa, and he had originally planned to use that ring to propose, but that felt tacky, to give her one of her own family heirlooms.

So instead he had gone to a jewelry shop. He had nearly gotten thrown out upon entering because the owner had thought he looked suspicious, which to be fair he had. He had taken the ring in, and after a bit of negotiating and using a sob story, he walked out with a platinum ring with a square diamond, accented with two smaller diamonds on the sides. There was a bit of pattern in the band itself too. The ring wasn't over the top or overly girly. He thought it would look nice on her hand. He hoped she would like it.

Then, he'd had to figure out where and when he'd pop the question. The normal things like going to a restaurant would be too out of line for them, they never went to restaurants beside maybe the Dingo, and there was no way in hell he would ever propose there. When he asked Darry, he had suggested wherever they'd had a date or fell in love, but that didn't work because they never went on dates, and he didn't really know where they'd fell in love, either. Finally, Ponyboy had been the one to suggest the creek. He'd meant it sarcastically, no one had been happy with that day, but looking back it was funny, and it had been one of the first times they'd really interacted.

So now, the plan was to drop JJ off with the Curtis' and go to the creek for the evening. He hadn't told any of the rest of the gang because he knew his plans would get spoiled, or they would want to be involved. He figured they could just be happy after the fact and leave it at that. That is, if she said yes. Otherwise, well, he didn't know what he would do.

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Estelle was slightly suspicious, Dally sounded nervous when he suggested they go to the creek that evening. This by itself wasn't super suspicious, they did stuff together sometimes, but that was usually to go to the drive in or go to Dairy Queen. Much less so now that they were exhausted new parents. Considering that he was suggesting they go to a different place, and only the two of them, she wondered what he was planning. Deep down, she wondered if he was breaking up with her. She knew it was illogical and that he probably wouldn't do that, but couldn't shake it off, and she felt bad about that.

Nevertheless, she put on her leather jacket and tied her boot laces, and followed him out of the house.

He drove them to the Curtis house, where she dropped off JJ. Darry was there, he would do a good job babysitting. Had it been any other gang member, she would have been nervous, but she knew she was leaving her son in safe hands.

Finally, Dally drove them to the creek. She smiled fondly. It seemed like entire lifetimes ago that she'd been there with the gang. She remember how awkward it had been, and how she'd ran off with their clothes so that she could have the upper hand.

"Remember last time we were here with the gang?" She asked.

"Yes," he grumbled. "And you stole all our fucking clothes and ran off."

"No, not all of them," she disagreed. "I dropped Ponyboy's, and Johnny's. And yours."

"No you didn't," he argued. "We still had to go back half naked while you cackled like a fucking hyena."

"Yes I did, I dropped Pony and Johnny's cause I felt like it would be wrong to make them walk around in their underwear. And I dropped yours as a peace offering, because the night before, I kicked your ass," she cackled.

"Yeah, yeah, whatever," Dally scowled. "You couldn't take me now."

"Oh but I did. You're absolutely whipped, that's why you're satisfied living a tame little life with me," she replied.

He almost smiled. She wasn't wrong. "You got me there, but I can still push you into the creek."

"You wouldn't dare," she said, narrowing her eyes playfully. "You wouldn't dare mess up my prized leather jacket or these boots, right?"

"Oh, you can take those off," he replied, grinning evilly.

"No, I don't think I will, I know for a fact you'll push me in if I do," she said suspiciously.

He sighed. "I tried."

"That you did, I applaud you for that much."

She sighed and leaned back into the grass.

"What?" Dally asked her.

"So much has changed since we last came here. We've changed so much. And in a way I wish we could go back to then, to the night we pet. Not permanently, but like to visit. To see just how far we've come, but also just the feeling of being strangers again. Of just meeting, the uncertainty of where we would go from there. But in a good way. I wish we could have that again."

"We can," he said roughly. "Look, I had this all planned out, but fuck it. Since when have plans ever worked for us anyways, right?" He chuckled nervously. "Look, we've already been through so much shit together. You've said to me so many times, that you loved me. And for so long, I didn't get it. I didn't get what you meant, or why you'd ever love someone like me, when you could really have whoever you wanted. But I think I get it now. We don't pick who we love. And now, I get it. I love you too. There's not another person I would want by my side through all the shit life throws at us. Estelle Parker, will you be my wife?" He spilled out, fumbling through his pocket for the ring.

She was astonished. Nothing could have prepared her for that. Her past self could have never guessed in a million years that Dallas Winston would be asking her to marry him and be his wife. But she wasn't that person anymore. She was Estelle Parker, now soon to be Winston.

"Yes," she said simply. "Of course. Of course I'll marry you. You complete me. I thought I had been broken into little pieces, you put me back together. There's no one else I would want to spend forever with. Yes, Dallas Winston, of course I'll marry you."

His lips met hers in a sweet kiss. It was like a first kiss, uncertain, but full of potential and eagerness. It felt so right, almost symbolizing the future they were ready to have. Together.