Zoom, Academy for Superheroes: Part 3

There's Nothing Wrong

"How long 'til this breaking sound in my chest just goes away? How long 'til we stop playing games like for fools that we've been? Now I won't back down, and throw it all away, and maybe just tonight, we'll pretend there's nothing wrong, there's nothing wrong."
-Eleven Past One

*****

As the week drew on and the day of the proposal approached quickly, everyone who know what was going to happen grew impatient as Dylan grew nervous.
        Jack and Marsha were especially excited. Though they would never admit it for fear that it made them sound old, they considered themselves somewhat as proud parents. Jack's excitement was mostly anticipation, whereas Marsha's excitement was almost all-consuming. He was always worried that she would accidentally take her enthusiasm to the next level and spill the news to someone who shouldn't know, but so far she'd managed to keep the secret between herself and Jack.
        But with every passing moment, Dylan's nerves grew. This wasn't a rash decision, he'd pondered a proposal for a long time before finally deciding that he wanted his life with Summer to begin sooner rather than later, and when he'd imagined his proposal, all he could think about was how beautiful it would be. How gorgeous Summer would look on the night that he would pop the question, how her emotions would be plainly plastered on her face as he took her by surprise, the audible gasp of the crowd, his heartfelt speech, the love in her eyes as she said yes, the kiss they would share.
        He imagined slipping the ring that he'd bought on her finger and the anticipation that would come over the two of them. He saw himself looking out at the crowd who was either still gasping, casting sentimental looks their way, or cheering with congratulations. He would glance at Tucker and Cindy, who would be shocked beyond belief, at Marsha who would wipe a tear from her eyes and smile lovingly towards them, and at Jack who would give them an approving smirk.
        That was how he wanted it to go, how he imagined that it would go. But he grew worried. Nothing in life was perfect, he knew that his proposal couldn't go exactly the way he'd planned and envisioned it, and what would happen then? He began to unwillingly imagine the alternate scenarios. The ones where Summer would shake her head apologetically and leave him kneeling at the front of a room filled with dozens of familiar faces.
        The anticipation was killing him, he just wanted to get it done, because the longer he had to wait, the longer he had to worry about Summer not accepting his proposal. It had gotten so bad that Dylan had to begin avoiding her altogether, because every time he saw her a wave of anxiety washed over him. This was hard, because all he wanted to do was spend the rest of his life with her.
        And Summer was growing concerned. On this particular afternoon, her and Dylan sat together with Cindy and Tucker in the lounge as they usually did. He seemed distant, and she'd tried having a conversation with him but it was almost as if he wasn't hearing her properly. Finally, she gave up trying to talk and asked him if he wanted to go down to the cafeteria for some lunch. They left the room, leaving Tucker and Cindy to the homework that they were doing at the back of the room.
        Along their way to the cafeteria, Summer and Dylan passed Jack and Marsha walking the opposite way. Dylan realized immediately upon seeing them that it was clear they had just been talking about the proposal because Marsha's face was slightly flushed and she wore a small smile that she was trying to suppress as Jack kept glancing at her, obviously worried that she would give away their secret.
        Suddenly, Dylan's worry grew. He wondered what the two of them would possibly think if Summer didn't accept his proposal. Jack would be worried about what that would do to the team, Marsha would be immensely disappointed. And what about the others? Cindy would be heartbroken, Tucker would feel conflicted and caught between him and Summer. The team would inevitably fall apart, Dylan wasn't even sure if he'd be able to work alongside Summer after such an incident. It would be the end of the world at they know it.
        As soon as Jack and Marsha had rounded the corner and Summer and Dylan were no longer in earshot, he glanced over at Marsha once more and spoke.
        "It's getting close," he said, referring to the date of the proposal. "I wonder how he's holding up."
        "I don't know... " Marsha began to respond uncertainly, she had pondered Dylan's emotions during the past few days, and she knew he couldn't be completely confident about it. "... he's probably getting nervous."
        "Yeah well, can you do something like that without getting a little nervous?"
        Marsha shrugged her shoulder's slightly, "I wouldn't know."
        "Me either." He glanced at her, and she seemed concerned about the situation. "I'm sure it'll all go fine. It's Dylan and Summer, they know what they're doing."
        "I know, but... " she all of a sudden lost control of her worries for a moment, "... what if he's so nervous that he's rethinking it all? What if he's already backing down and the proposal doesn't even happen and Summer never realizes that Dylan wants to marry her and they break up but because they're the loves of each others' lives they're never happy again and live miserable lives all because Dylan was too nervous to propose to her on Friday?"
        Jack looked at her quizzically for a moment, wondering if her moment of crazy had passed. When she glanced back at him somewhat apologetically, he knew that it was safe to comment. "Are you done?"
        She nodded quietly and he had a strange, kind of sarcastic look on his face as he stared at her. "If I'm honest with you, I couldn't really keep up with you there for a minute, so I'm going to have to just make some assumptions about what you said. But, what ever happened to your almost insanely optimistic approach to things? They're going to be fine, no matter what happens, we both know that."
        He tried to sound confident and reassuring for her sake, but in the back of his mind he couldn't help but wonder if she had a good point. What if Dylan really did back out of this proposal? Where would they all go from there?

*****

        The next two days continued as normal as could be, but Jack couldn't help but continue to worry about Dylan's nerves. He found himself obsessing over every possible thing that could go wrong so badly to the point of him having to take a moment to laugh at himself for how much he'd managed to make himself act just like Marsha had.
        But he knew that something had to be done. Usually, he would let Marsha deal with stuff like this, she was better with words and she certainly knew how to deal with people. But he had a feeling that Dylan might need more of a man's perspective on this.
        So that night, he made sure to catch Dylan in the lounge. He could tell immediately by the vacant look on his face that he was internally freaking out over the proposal tomorrow. Though his face remained emotionless, his life was flashing before his eyes. Finally, Jack spoke and shook him from his terrifying trance.
        "You ready for tomorrow? Is everything good?" He asked casually, not wanting to worry Dylan. "You're not having second thoughts or anything, are you?" He tried to make it sound like a joke, though he really was seriously asking.
        "Actually, yeah... " Dylan began with a sigh, "... I have been having second thoughts. A lot of them. I don't want to be having those thoughts, because it's not second thoughts on whether or not I want to marry Summer, it's second thoughts on whether or not she wants to marry me."
        "It's just nerves, you can't let them get to you. You know exactly how she feels about you, she'd marry you right now if you asked. You're just getting nervous and it's messing with your thoughts."
        "Yeah, well... " Dylan's tone became harsher and more impatient, "... what would you know about marriage?" He didn't mean to snap, but his nerves really were making him do things he wouldn't normally do. "Sorry."
        Jack didn't care that he'd taken a harsher tone with him, he knew how much stress he must be under right now. "You're right, I know next to nothing about marriage. But I do know when you've found the right person, the person you're meant to be with, believe me, I know. And that's what you found with Summer, you've just done it a lot quicker than I managed to."
        Dylan glanced at him in understanding before he managed to calm his nerves slightly. "You know what, you're right, this is all just nerves getting in the way of my judgement, right?"
        "Yeah, who wouldn't be nervous about something like this? It's completely normal, but you just have to remember that you guys have been together for over a year now, if one of you wasn't as committed to the other in the relationship, you wouldn't still be together."
        One by one, Dylan's worries began to vanish, and were replaced with images of Summer's smiling face once more as she accepted his promise, his ring, and his heart. Jack got up to leave the room, his work there was done, but he had one last piece of somewhat comedic advice left that he offered with a chuckle.
        "This is just the part of those cliché movies Marsha and Summer like so much where the guy has to man up and go get the girl."
        Dylan scoffed and sat back in his seat, nodding his head for a moment as if he was imagining a scene from Summer's favourite movie. "Yeah, you're telling me. When's it going to be time for you to 'man up and go get the girl', huh?"
        Jack just gave him a look that told him he wasn't about to offer up any conversation on that particular topic and he left the room with a chuckle.