You know what this means. Another dream.
This one was quite less adventurous than the last couple of dreams I've had, but no less gut wrenching to me.

It all starts in a beat up truck stop in Missoula, Montana. I was wondering about the candy trying to decide what I wanted, when a man in a black cowboy hat  walked up beside me and pretended to be looking at the candy too. I flicked a glance at him and realized he was blatantly giving me the up down. I giggled embarrassed by the man's attention and tried to figure out where I knew him from. My question was answered when the man addressed me.
"Hi, Amanda." At first I was confused as to how the man knew my name, but when I turned and faced him and studied his face I gasped, "Oh! I'm sorry, I didn't even recognize you!" He flashed a small smile, a soft curvature of his lips, before he returned to his stony face - eyes still smiling. "Ya, it's been a while since High School."
I shrugged, it really hadn't been -just two years- I simply never had hung out with him enough to commit his face to memory. He had always treated me with that same stony indifference whenever I tried to strike up conversation, so I had given up early. I gave him an up down myself, taking in the signature cowboy boots, the faded blue jeans, the belt buckle (from some rodeo competition no doubt), the button up white shirt, and the old black cowboy hat.  "So, how's the University treating you?" I was assuming that he was going to the University of Montana, like so many of our classmates had.
He raised a hand and rubbed the back of his neck, in a nervous gesture. I raised an eyebrow at him. "Actually, I stopped going a year ago, I've been driving truck." Slightly shocked at the information, he explained that he had gotten bored of the rodeo scene and tried to do wrestling. It hadn't gone well, and he had dropped out of college to drive truck. At the end of his little story he tacked on "Do you wanna get some food with me?" Nodding over to the restaurant side of the truck stop. Surprised again, I nodded and followed him to a booth.
I wasn't quite sure what to think about this sudden interest in conversation from a man who I had only spoken a couple sentences to throughout our school years together. I shrugged off the nervousness, associating the new found interest to High School Nostalgia. He probably just wanted to connect with someone and talk about the well known memories our class had shared.
We ordered soup, and he started pumping me for information about what I had been up to.  I explained that I was still living in Portland, going to an Art School, and I was home for the Summer. He flashed another one of those small smiles at the end of my explanation, and I realized I had never seen him laugh before. I mentally shook my head as I took a sip of my soup, what an odd thought, and dismissed the observation.
Towards the end of our meal the somewhat ease of conversation jutted to a stop when he became nervous. His hesitation was almost palpable and I felt the urge to touch his hand and wonder about what the matter was. I resisted, but gave him a questioning look. He rubbed the back of his neck again, "I -uh- would you -um- what I'm trying to say - uh" He took a breath, "Do you wanna go for a walk down by the river with me?" I said sure, without thinking. He gave another small smile that lingered a moment longer than the others had. "Do you mind if we take my truck? I already dropped off my load." I beamed, as excited as a small child with a lollipop. "I LOVE big trucks." At his raised eyebrow I explained that my father had instilled a love of semi trucks in me when I was very young. "Is it a Peterbilt?" I asked, hardly containing my excitement. "Well, I guess you'll just have to see won't you?" He barely covered a smug grin on his face as he led me out to his truck.
As we turned the corner of the gas station and he pointed, I followed his finger in the direction of a majestic ebony and chrome semi truck with stacks on the back. I screeched and jumped up and down. "I can't believe you! This is so not fair!"
He was pleased at my excitement, and paused as he was about to open the door to the big truck. I looked at him intently, wondering why he wasn't opening the door to let me into the beautiful truck. He opened and closed his mouth a couple times and rubbed the back of his neck. I slowly forgot about my excitement and beginning to feel concerned and curious why my newly made friend/Old High School classmate was stalling. I took note of the slowly setting sun and the reflection of the orange glow on his face. It gave him a rugged kind of handsomeness I had never noticed before.
"I need to tell you something." After several moments of silence, his sudden burst of words shocked my ears -sounding louder than he had actually meant. I nodded, stunned slightly, trying to encourage him to go on. He took the incentive and -in a rush of words- told me how he had pined after me in High School, that his stony coldness towards me had been a protective measure because I always had a boyfriend. He finished slightly out of breath and looked down at the ground and whispered, "I love you."
A rush of memories ran through my brain of every instance that he had ever walked up to me as if to ask me something then walked away when my friends had come up behind me, every time I had found him in my favorite spot in the library, the couple of times that he had sat next to me in the few classes we had together. I covered my mouth with my hand as I put everything together, it all made sense now. All of the out of place comments, the small compliments that I had taken as sarcastic.
I opened my mouth to form some kind of response, but all that came out was "Wow." I flinched, at the stupidity of that response, and quickly came back with " I love you too." The words rang true. My brain rushed through a series of 'what the fuck did you just say?' and an almost immeasurable mental paralysis when I realized that it was true.
He smiled at me, really smiled, the first time I had ever seen him smile. "Really?" I giggled and nodded, as he picked me up with a flourish. I felt the butterflies hit my stomach as he rose me above his head and spun me around. He dropped me down to his level and hugged me tightly to him. I wrapped my legs around his waist and took in the smell of leather and diesel. I could hear the smile in his voice as he whispered into my ear "Will you marry me?" My heart did a somersault, as I nodded into his shoulder and said yes.
He raised me up above his head again and laughed. It was such an unfamiliar sound, but no less joyous to my ears. When he put me down he gave me another tight hug, "Well, then we should get on the road." I looked up at him and returned the smile he was giving me.
He turned and walked towards the truck and I ran up behind him and slid my hand into his.

The End.