guarding my angel || "guardian angel" sequel

35

I can't help but smile as I take in everything he has done for me. The countless sunsets, the endless laughs, the small acts of love he's given me over the last two years. He's been my everything and more every single day I've known him. I've never doubted my worth, and never doubted how much he truly loves me. Most of the time, I still can't believe I get to spend the rest of my life  with him.

"There was this time, when Johnny and I had to hide up at this broken down church, and the only thing that really kept me going was the sunsets. I think of you like that, like a sunset," he says with a smile. I smile back at him as I walk to stand beside him, looking over the roof at the school courtyard below. I lay my head on his shoulder as his arm wraps around my waist.

"You're just so beautiful, inside and out. You're gold, Jess. And I know they say that nothing gold can stay, but you have. I keep waiting for the day that you decide that the crazy shit we've all gone through is too much for you, but it never comes."

He pauses only for a moment, to kiss my forehead.

"The only real good things that happened in my life, besides Soda and Darry, have all left. Soda keeps talking about moving away from Tulsa, and it scares me senseless. He's been my best friend since the day I entered this world. I wouldn't know how to do life without him."

"Ponyboy, you do realize that we leave for New York at the end of the summer, right?" I say with a laugh. He laughs too and turns so I'm facing him, his hands laid casually on my waist. I sling my arms around his neck.

"I know, I know. I've just been through so much these last few years, I need a little bit of certainty for a while, that's all," he says. I can see the exhausted look in his eyes, one that depicts the sadness and grievance he's had to face. I could never imagine any of it.

"Hey, we did it, baby," I say softly. "You made it through all of it. In a few short months we get to start a whole new life in a whole new city."

I softly kiss him, holding him against me as I pull away.

"I've loved every moment of watching you grow over the last few years. All that you've gone through should've made you some horrible person, but it didn't. You're by far the most amazing person I've ever met. No one else could've come out as great as you, Ponyboy Michael Curtis. It's one of the things I love most about you - how great you make horrible situations."

"Don't you get me all crying before dinner, Darry'll have my head," he says, kissing me again before removing the ring from the chain around my neck. He gets down on one knee again, and it's just as amazing as the first time.

 "I'll love you forever, Jessica Elordi Curtis," he says happily, tears forming in his beautiful eyes. He slips the ring onto my left hand, just as he promised he would after graduation. We agreed that we would wait until then, and I've been counting down the seconds until I get to look at it resting on my ring finger.

"That has an excellent ring to it, don't you think?" I say with a giggle as I lean in for a few more kisses.

**Lauren's POV**

I carefully set enough places around the table to fit everyone in the gang, even the babies. Darry's been giddy all weekend, waiting for the moment Jessica and Ponyboy walk through our doors as high school graduates.

"You're absolutely sure they're coming on time, right?" he asks for the 5th time.

"Babe, has anyone ever ONCE been late to dinner?" I ask with a smirk. He exhales and runs back into our bedroom.

I continue preparing the hamburgers as Soda comes pacing into the kitchen.

"She isn't here yet, right?" he asks with an anxious look on his face.

"No, she isn't," I say, straightening the collar of his flannel and flattening out the wrinkles. "Can I see it?"

Soda reaches deep into his pocket and pulls out a small, black box. He pops it open and reveals a beautiful one-diamond wedding ring, with diamonds encrusted into the band.

"Gosh Soda, it's incredible," I say, nearly breathless. "Where did you get it?"

"It was my grandmother's," he says with a smile. "I've had it for almost 5 years. I'd always thought I would give it to Sandy, until I met Kayla. I knew that very first day I brought her over here that she would be my wife."

"She'll love it," I say with a genuine smile. Each future Curtis wife received a very special ring from the Curtis wives before them. Upon my left ring finger lies Darry's paternal grandmother's ring, one with a gold band and a white diamond in the center. Jessica has their mother's, though it hangs around her neck for now. Rumor has it that after graduation, it will be worn on her ring finger.

"How has it been?" he asks me carefully. Everyone has avoided the subject of us losing the baby since the day I came home, as though I'm too fragile to answer it.

"It gets a little easier each day," I say with a smile. "I miss her, but I know she lives in a place without pain."

Soda smiles and rubs my shoulder just as the front door bursts open. He shoves the ring into his pocket and gives me a quick look before Kayla and Grayson walk into the kitchen.

"Hey little man! You ready for some dinner?" I ask as I take Grayson from Kayla. She smiles at me and hugs me briefly before giving Soda a quick kiss. Soda half-smiles, but leaves the kitchen and goes into Darry's room. Kayla turns and looks at me.

"What was that all about?" she asks. I shrug my shoulders innocently as I give Grayson some lettuce to play with.