more than I could ever promise, part 2

August 2083 - Dallas Deppiesse is 19, Delphie and Dakota are 13. (Lucy Harris is 17.)

* soundtrack: "The Way I Am," by Ingrid Michaelson. Warnings: cheese? Dude, I tried to avoid it, but sorry, it couldn't be helped :) And maybe a tissue or two. *

Problem one, Delphie and Dakota are bored. But that isn't the most pressing problem. Things can be done about that. Problem two, they're supposed to tell Dallas before they go anywhere, where they're going, and when they'll be back. That's not exactly the problem either. The problem is, it's only twelve hours until Dallas leaves in the morning, and he's busy saying goodbye to Lucy. They've been saying goodbye for months it seems, all gross and entangled in all that affection.

Dakota says, "No way, I'm not going up there. You go up there and tell him."

"We could yell up the stairs," Delphie suggests.

"The music," Dakota says.

"We could just leave a note."

"What if he doesn't find it?"

"I have an idea," Dakota says.

She folds a paper airplane and holds it in her hand. Inside is a simple message, "We went out, we'll be back in a little while."

"We're not doing anything wrong," Dakota says. "We would tell him ourselves if they would stop doing it all the time."

So they send the message airplane up the stairs, hitting the floor outside his door, and they go out. They walk along Lakeshore Road. They look at a couple boats at the final days of the Marina Festival. For a moment, Dakota pretends she might push her sister off the dock and into the water. But in the end, she doesn't actually do it.

There's really no exciting trouble to get into in Lakeside Heights, for two mostly-nice thirteen year-old girls, in August, smack-dab in the middle of an ordinary Tuesday.

And by the time they get home, the note hadn't even moved from where they left it. They stare at it, the only evidence of their boring Tuesday adventure gone completely missed.

Then the door opens, and Dallas and Lucy come out.

"Oh, hey guys," Lucy says. "What's going on?"

They can't make it out, thankfully, but behind Dallas's back, it looks like Lucy is still zipping up her pants.

Dallas says, "You guys wanna go get some ice cream or something?"

Nine hours left, and the sun is finally settling down into the long August evening. They walk across the street to the Lakeside Beach Boardwalk for some ice cream.

Dallas and Lucy had "the talk". They didn't want to have it, but they did, in pieces over that past few weeks. They don't want to see other people while they're apart - that much was clear and certain between them. To his sisters, it's as simple as either they're breaking up, or they're not. They'll try to make it that simple, but they know it's really not.

"Why are you worried about me?" Lucy says. "I should be worried about you! You're a lot cuter than you even realize! You don't even understand how girls eat up that whole quiet and charming thing you do!"

He laughs. "You don't have to worry about me," he says.

They're mostly joking. She believes they'll be okay, because she has to. For her to worry that they might not make it is no different than saying they were never meant to be together at all.

Instead of worrying, they'll spend their time hugging. As much as they want, and they don't care who gets annoyed by it. They won't be able to hug for almost two years after tomorrow morning.

But in the end, she doesn't need him to be any smarter, or more accomplished. He knows that, because she told him. They could just be together, and ordinary, and happy. But this is what he wants. And maybe it's selfish, but all along she hoped that he would turn to her and say, "I can't do it, I just can't go." But he never said that.

"Dakota's playing with fire," he says. "We'd better go keep an eye on her."

Eight hours. He's excited, mostly. He's never been anywhere, never been on a plane, never been anywhere in a car further than Ohio. It's hard not to be excited for him. He has it all worked out. He's set up his old computer in her room, with a voice-enabled webcam. He changed the oil in the car and replaced the tires. He adjusted the seat closer so she could reach the pedals.

He's got it all worked out, calculated the time zones and even planned out a schedule. They'll talk in his mornings, which will be her evenings, and then again before he goes to bed, when she's just waking up. He has it all planned out.

Or most of it anyway.

"Promise me you won't just sit in your room the whole time," she says. "It's not healthy. Remember when we first met, and you wouldn't come to my party because you said you were making Baked Alaska? You don't even cook."

She's right, and he can hardly even remember that awkward little boy he used to be before her.

"Promise me that if you get invited to parties, you'll go."

"Okay," he says. "I promise."

It's one thing he hadn't even thought of - he's spent the bulk of his life surrounded by people, a large and close family, Lucy and all of her friends. Lucy, his first and very best friend, joined to his hip like she was born to fit there. What will he become without her?

Seven hours. His sisters need to get back home now. It's nearly midnight, and the little girls left in them still can't stay up much later than 10 p.m. Dakota says, "Don't worry, we'll take care of Lucy for you."

"I know you will," he says. "Mom's taking me to the airport early tomorrow. In case you guys aren't up yet, I just wanted to say goodbye."

"We'll be up," Dakota says.

"Yeah, we will," Delphie says.

But they both hug him anyway.

"You guys be good," he says.

Six hours and counting. They walk down to the lake's edge and light a small, private fire, just for the two of them. Lucy has all night tonight, and even if she didn't, she wouldn't care about rules tonight. It's late, and the heat from the flames dries their eyes and makes them both drowsy.

"You don't have to stay up all night," he says.

"I want to," she says.

"You can sleep and I'll just watch you," he says. "I can sleep on the plane."

"So don't fall in love with Beau or anything," he says.

"What? Beau? Why would I fall in love with Beau?"

"Or that weird, quiet guy who lives across the street from you. You know I've seen him watching out his window when I drop you off sometimes."

"What are you talking about?"

"I don't know," he says. "I just thought I'd say it. Don't fall in love with anyone."

She smiles at him. "I'm already in love with someone," she says.

"So I think I have this plan," he says. "It's not really two years, it's really only 21 months. And we'll call each other every day, and we'll chat online, and we'll send pictures. This doesn't change any of that, or anything. And it's not just that I don't want you to date other people. It's not just that."

"Okay?"

"It's crazy, maybe you'll think this is crazy."

He stands up. He starts to pace a little. She follows him.

She looks at him like he is indeed crazy. Maybe he is. The thing is, he's been wrong before. It's hard to believe, but he has. He was wrong about sex, when he said it wouldn't change their relationship - it did, it made them closer. It made him discover that he didn't want to share that, or her, with anyone else, ever.

It terrifies him all the ways he might be wrong, even with the best laid plans.

She takes his hands, his fingers shaking in hers.

"Okay," he says, collecting himself. "I've been wanting to say something."

"I know," she says.

"When I get back, I was thinking, since you'll be eighteen and done with school - and maybe you can think about it if you want, you don't have to tell me right away. But it's not just that I don't want you to date other people."

"I don't want to date other people," she says.

"I know," he says. "It's because I just want you to date me. Forever."

She starts grinning so wide she thinks her face might break.

"What I mean is," he says, taking her hand in his, his nerves finally calmed by the assurance of her smile. "When I get back, I wondered if you might want to get married?"

"Okay," she says.

"Wait, you mean, you really want to marry me?"

"Yeah," she says. "I really do."

"You might change your mind," he says. "I won't hate you if you do. I could never hate you."

"I'll never change my mind," she says.

"You need a ring," he says.

"I don't need a ring," she says.

"Well you have to take it anyway, because I have one."

He digs into his pocket, pulling out a ring. He slides it onto her finger, and then takes her into his arms.

"We can do this," he says. "I promise."

She can hardly breathe as she swallows the tears caught in her throat. It's not because she's sad, but simply overwhelmed. Her voice is barely a whisper in his ear. "I'm going to miss you. So much."

Five hours. She's counted down the months, the days, and finally the hours. She always wondered what it would feel like when they finally came undone. Would it feel like tearing, like ripping? Would they feel broken apart, snapped at their core?

But no, it feels like stretching. They're driving him to the airport in just five hours, and she can already feel it. The tether just stretches, as far as it needs to go.

*******

(footnotes: the tether, the scholarship, the plan, the v-card, the prom, and he wanted to tell her something)

notes: don't you wish they could buy different kinds of engagement rings? That ring looks far too huge for what a 19 year-old could afford, but Dallas has been working all through high school, and has his education all paid for, so I figured he could afford something. In my mind, it would be something modest though, maybe vintage or something. *sigh* :)

And then I step outside of Lucy-mode and say - OMG, she's only just seventeen! Her mom is gonna be pissed! lol!

I did try to take Delphie and Dakota out on the town, but absolutely nothing interesting happened, lol! So I thought I'd spare you from that boredom ;)

And on Dallas and all that affection... ever since he aged to YA, he keeps rolling that "woohoo in bed" want, and as soon as it's fulfilled, it rolls straight back again. It's NEVER not there! Well he is nineteen, after all, so I suppose that's pretty normal. He's always been a very "affectionate" young man!

He's certainly gonna need a LOT of cold showers once he gets to Takemizu, lol!