HOLY SMOKES

twelve. my perfect angel

Boone sat on the tailgate, raising a beer to his lips, but his eyes were trained on Magnolia as she sipped on her water in the chair next to Dexter. She hadn’t said much since they got to the motel, not to anyone. And when Hunter had come over to talk about work, she merely told him to take the lead, which just wasn’t like her.

She sank into her chair a little, pulling her sweatshirt around her as she crossed her legs. Her eyes were unfocused, her teeth nipped at her bottom lip and her fingers had yet to cease their fidgeting as she pulled the ring back and forth across the chain.

Her mind was racing.

She was surprised her hands weren’t shaking as she replayed what had happened out in the field in her head. She had been mere feet from dying… feet from Boone dying. Or, hell, even Tyler, who despite saying she hated, she didn’t. He was the closest thing she had to a brother.

She was so in her head that she jumped a little when her phone rang, which drew concerned looks from the rest of the crew. She pulled her phone out of her pocket, she hit the green button when she saw Kelly’s name and put it to her ear as she pushed herself up. Boone watched as she walked away from them, wrapping her arm around herself.

“Hey,”

“Are you okay?” Kelly rushed out, her tone stern.

“Yeah, why-”

“I just saw that fucking video. You almost died, like, almost got crushed by a giant fan blade!”

Magnolia closed her eyes and took a breath, kicking at the ground with the toe of her boot, “yeah, Kell. I know. I was in the truck.”

“Please tell me you’re not getting back in that damn truck. I don’t care about how much it’s helping or whatever else. Nothing is worth your life. Not even Boone.”

“I-I don’t know.” She mumbled, shrugging her shoulders a little.

“Don’t know what, Maggie?” Kelly huffed.

“I-I-I… I just don’t know, okay?”

“You don’t have to do this for him.”

“I’m not doing it for him,” Magnolia told her. “I’m doing it for the people losing their homes, their jobs, and their loved ones. And I’m doing it for me, it’s actually fun… well, today wasn’t but…”

“But what?”

Magnolia let out a small chuckle, wiping her eyes as tears started to form, “I like driving into tornadoes more than I thought I would. But after today… I don’t know if I can.”

“You don’t have to.” Kelly told her softly. “We’ll spread the word some other way.”

Magnolia’s eyes brimmed with tears and she tried to hold them back. She hadn't realized just how much she missed having Kelly around. Hell, she'd been her best friend for almost nine years, she was there when Magnolia started up the non-profit. She had even helped her with planning in the early days.

“I miss you.” Magnolia mumbled, sniffling a little as she used her sleeve to wipe her nose.

“I miss you, too, honey.” She smiled a little, “have you talked to Boone yet? About how you feel?”

“Not yet,” she shook her head, glancing over at the group. Boone was standing in the bed of the truck, his eyes on her, despite whatever Kate – who had been on her way to her room when Tyler stopped her – was saying.

She didn’t want to tell him that she was scared, and not just for her life, but for his.

“You should.”

“I know.” Magnolia nodded, whipping her cheeks. “I will.”

Boone watched as she started back towards them, tucking her phone into her back pocket after saying her goodbyes. His eyes tracked the movement of her hands as she wiped her face. He knew she had been crying and it killed him, but before he could ask, Kate spoke up.

“Magnolia, right?” She asked and the girl forced a smile as she looked up at her.

“Maggie’s fine,” she told her as she sank back into her chair.

“You two know each other?” Dani asked, offering Magnolia a beer, which she declined.

“Not really, Javi kinda introduced us earlier after Scott showed me those rader things they got.”

“Didn’t know you were a Tornado Wrangler, too.” Kate mused.

“Yeah, she-”

“I-I’m not.”

She and Boone spoke at the same time, but he trailed off, his eyebrows pinched when she avoided his gaze.

“Just along for the ride, I guess.”

“You okay, after what happened out there?” Kate asked and all eyes were on Magnolia. They were all concerned about her, though most of them had only known her for a week, they all knew it was strange that she had gone quiet.

She swallowed the lump in her throat, pulling her sleeves down to hide her hands when they started to shake a little. And the silence stretched on for a while, too long.

“Maggie?” Tyler asked curiously, his own worry for the girl peaking, seemingly snapping her out of her thoughts.

“Y-yeah.” Her voice shook a little. “I’m tired, though. So, I’m gonna head to bed.” She pushed herself up and made her way towards the room she was sharing with Boone. And he was quick to jump down and follow after her, catching the door before it closed all the way.

“Maggie, are you okay?” He asked softly and she stopped at the sound of his voice as he closed the door behind him. His eyes scanned her up and down, as she stood in the middle of the room, her back to him. Then he saw the slightest shake of her shoulders. “Hey, baby,” he moved quickly, moving to stand in front of her as he placed his hands on her cheeks. “Talk to me please.”

She let him tilt her head back as a few stray tears rolled down her cheeks, which he wiped away, “how are you so okay with what happened today?”

“‘Cause we’re okay.”

“We almost weren’t,” she argued.

“But we are,” he argued softly. “Everyone’s just fine. Nothin’ bad happened.”

She shook her head, pushing him back a step, which took him by surprise, “But it could've!”

“Maggie-”

“First Tyler, drivin’ like he ain’t got a lick of sense! What was with runnin’ Javi off the road like that? For the views? Someone coulda gotten hurt! Then I was a couple feet – so close I coulda touched that fan blade if I stuck my arm out the window – from dying or-or-or seeing Ty die…. or seeing you die.” She was in full blown unstoppable tears. “I coulda lost you an-and I just got you back. You said it was safe! That wasn’t safe!”

“Angel,” he sighed, pulling her into his chest as he kissed the side of her head as she sobbed into his shirt. “We’re okay, all of us. We’re okay. And you ain’t gone lose me, promise.” She just cried into his chest, her hands fisted around the back of his shirt. “Why didn’t you say somethin’ sooner?”

She sniffled, bringing her hand up to wipe her nose on her sleeve, “didn’t wanna ruin your fun.”

“Baby, you ain’t gotta keep stuff like this in. Even if you think think it’s gone ruin my fun.” He rubbed her back, tightening his arms around her. “I don’t care what I’m doin’, I want you to tell me when you’re upset, okay?”

She nodded against him, her voice coming out weak, “okay.”

“I ain’t had no fun since we got back anyhow, been worrin’ ‘bout you. Everyone’s been worrin’ ‘bout you.”

She wiped her nose again as she pulled back, and met his eyes, “I don’t know if I can get back in the truck.”

“Then you ain’t gotta,” he tucked her hair behind her ear, wiping at her still wet cheeks. “You ain’t gotta do nothin’ you don’t wanna do.”

She smiled, just a small, barely there twitch of her lips that was gone as fast as it had appeared. Her eyes searched his and, oh man, she had always loved his eyes. She let her eyes drift over every inch of his face, from his eyes to his jaw that houses a fading hickey or two, to the spot where she knew that if he smiled a dimple would appear.

She loved everything about him, she loved him.

And she couldn't fathom the thought of losing him again.

“Don’t even want you in that truck.”

“Baby, it’s my job.”

“I know,” she nodded. “Don’t mean I like it.” She mumbled, and he knew what she was going to ask.

“Please, angel, don’t ask me to.”

“I ain’t gonna, you love what you do.” She told him, her voice soft, then it went quiet for a few long seconds before she spoke again. “What do we do now?”

His brows pinched a little, “what’d ya mean?”

She took a breath, then swallowed around the lump in her throat. “Us?” She mumbled cautiously, fearing the answer.

She hated it, but she was scared that if she couldn't get past her fear that he'd leave.

“Ya mean right now? ‘Cause if ya mean right now, I kinda wanna kiss ya.”

“Boone,” she sighed a little, shaking her head.

“This ain’t over, won’t let it be. Told you I was gonna marry you and I meant it.” He walked forward, making her take a few steps backwards until her back hit the wall. A soft gasp left her lips, as he cupped her cheeks, “I ain’t losin’ you again. Not after one scare. And if I gotta prove it to ya, I will.”

He held her gaze as he sank to his knees before her, “Boone,” his name left her on a whimper and he hadn’t even really touched her yet.

“You’re my angel, ain’t that right?” He asked, dragging his hands down the backs of her legs and her breath hitched at the simple touch. He then lifted her right leg and pulled her boot off, he placed her foot back on the ground, then he did the same with the other. “Ain’t that right?” He asked again, his hands rough against the backs of her thighs.

“Yes,” she breathed out and he leaned forwards, pushing her sweatshirt up to kiss her stomach and undid the button of her shorts. Then in a swift move, her shorts were around her ankles. She stepped out of them and he leaned forward, kissing the little white bow on the front of her underwear.

“My perfect angel,” he mumbled mostly to himself as she buried her hands in his hair, pushing the bandana off of his head as he spread her legs, hitching one over his shoulder. A gasp left her, her eyes closed and her head thrown back as he kissed the thin fabric that covered her most private area.

And what he did next was anything but holy.

>>>>> • <<<<<

By the time the sun had claimed the sky, neither of them had gotten much – if any – sleep. Neither had the person that just so happened to share a wall with them.

But they could apologize to Hunter later – well, Boone wouldn’t.

“What’re you doin’?” Magnolia asked when Boone found the clasp of her necklace, then he unhooked it and let the ring fall into his hand. “Boone-”

“I’ll get you a real nice ring after all this.” He held the ring between his fingers, running his thumb over the crisscrossed bands that were woven together.

“Boone-?”

“Magnolia Beth Carrington, will you marry me?” He held the ring between them, they were still laying in bed, their bodies bare, and their clothes tossed haphazardly around the room.

Her eyes were wide as she met his, but he had never looked so serious. Her mind was a blurred mess of the night before, all the ways he’d made her come undone – she could already feel the splendid ache in her legs. Now, he held the promise ring he’d gotten her in high school between them asking her the biggest question of her life.

She couldn’t really focus as her mind raced, there was so much to figure out.

She had a successful non-profit to run. He had his own successful career – even if it scared the hell out of her now. She lived in New York. He lived in Arkansas, but he was on the road during storm season.

There was so much they had yet to talk about, so much that needed to be talked about.

Hell, they hadn't even officially gotten back together.

She sat up a little, her eyes still wide and he sat up next to her, just waiting. He could see her wheels turning and though he was a little worried he had jumped the gun, he knew how he felt and he knew how she felt.

Her tongue darted out and swiped over her lips, which had gone dry along with her mouth. Her heart beat against her rib cage like a caged animal. And she knew what she had to say. It was the only logical…

“Yes.”

Logic be damned.

“Yes, Boone, I’ll marry you.”

A wide grin spread across his face as he wrapped his arms around her, molding his lips against hers. And she laughed, wrapping her arms around his shoulders as he peppered kisses all over her face. He rolled, taking her back down onto the mattress, as he sucked on her collarbone, making her moan.

And he only pulled back long enough to clumsily slide the ring onto her finger – where it belonged – then he softly kissed her knuckles.

“I love you, angel.”

She smiled up at him, her hands in his cheeks, her thumb sliding over his perfect dimples, “I love you.”

Then he attached his lips to hers again, his fingers digging into her hips and she knew there'd be bruises but she didn't care.