[ thanks for reading this fic. can't believe I've finished four twisters fics in such a short amount of time and have another to work on. the brainrot is so real ]

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DON'T TELL ME HOW I FEEL, DAMNIT.

RIO'S JEANS WERE STAINED WITH DIRT as she knelt by the base of a tree. Usually, she didn't care, but she was careful not to get any on her shirt. It was the one she'd stolen from Boone after sneaking out a week ago.

He'd called her constantly every day since then, but she didn't have it in her to open the texts messages and listen to the voicemails. She was too weak to do that.

No, she had to focus back on school — the school that was dying to know how it went in Oklahoma. She wanted to just forget, but her advisor wouldn't stop questioning her about how the outbreak might've affected the Oklahoma environment and how the chemicals released by Kate would've affected the climate as well.

God, she shouldn't have even told her advisor about the trip at all.

But now, things could go back to normal as she collected more soil samples, picking back up on the work she'd abandoned to meet Javi and Kate. She was just finishing up, getting ready to take the samples back to her Jeep to get them in the lab. But part of her just wanted to sit in the dirt for a little while longer, soaking up the sun that she so desperately wished would improve her mood.

But only one thing — one person — could do that, and she wasn't going to pick up her phone and fix her mistake. So, with a frown on her face, she picked at the grass, her head down as she leaned against the base of the pear tree.

She didn't know how long she sat there with her thoughts, but it was the sound of Tyler Owens' voice that shocked her out of her trance-like state.

"Damn, Boone. She really does just about live in the dirt."

Rio looked up quickly in disbelief — and a bit of horror — seeing a smirking Tyler with his arms crossed, Boone at his side. And Boone's deep brown eyes looked just about lifeless as he stared at her hard, a frown on his pretty lips.

"Wh - what are y'all doing here?" Rio stuttered out while scrambling to her feet. "You're supposed to be in Oklahoma."

"Yeah, well, you are too," Boone muttered harshly. Then he threw a crumbled up piece of paper at her, her leaning to the side to keep it from hitting her. It was the note she'd left him explaining how that night was magical for her but she had to go back to her life. "What the hell are you playing at? Thinking you can just leave in the middle of the night like that?"

"Boone, I—" She cut herself off, her eyes growing a bit misty. "You knew I was going back to Texas."

"Without so much as a goodbye?" he asked, coming closer. "Without giving me a chance to - to—"

"To what?" she asked softly.

"To ask you to stay," he said, reaching for her hands. He looked so desperately at her. "Just... just come back with us. We're stayin' in Oklahoma — teaming up with Javi and Kate. Come back with me."

Rio shook her head, pulling her hands free. "Boone, I've - I've got school. And I - you've only known me a week—"

"And that's long enough to know I fucking love you," he said, raising his voice a bit. "And I ain't joking around when I say that."

Rio looked at him, her mouth agape in disbelief. "You don't - you don't mean that."

"Don't tell me how I feel, damnit," he muttered, coming close until he could grab her shoulders. "And maybe you don't love me yet — I know it's too soon. But this thing between us is real. I know it ain't just me."

Rio's lip trembled, hating that she was so close to caving. "Boone, I can't - I can't let myself fall in love with you like I know I could," she whispered. "I lost everything once. I can't risk that again."

"You ain't gone lose me, baby," he promised, cupping her cheek. And though she knew he couldn't be sure of that, she still leaned into his touch — she'd missed it so much over the last week. "I ain't never gone leave you."

"Then we got a problem," she said, leaning closer. "Cause I don't want you to."

She leaned in to kiss him, melting into his arms as he wrapped them around her, crushing her to his chest. He backed her into the tree, deepening it, neither caring as their feet clumsily knocked over the soil samples she'd taken.

When Boone pulled away, he pressed their foreheads together. "Does that mean what I think it does?" he asked hopefully. "You're coming back with us?"

"I - I gotta talk to my advisor. See about continuing my PhD in Oklahoma," she murmured, tangling her fingers in his hair, eyes still on his lips.

"I'll get on my knees and beg that professor if I gotta," he told her earnestly. "Anything to bring my girl back home."

"Your girl, huh?" she asked, raising an eyebrow. "That right?"

He nodded, running his nose along her jaw. "You been my girl since you 'bout killed Scott with that Jeep of yours."

Rio giggled, shaking her head at his joke as he grinned at her, so grateful to hear her laugh again. Then she looked over Boone's shoulder, spotting Tyler, who was staring at the cloudless sky and pretending to give them some privacy.

"I can't believe you brought Tyler."

"Well, I meant it when I said I'd bring him if I ever had to chase after you," he said, chuckling.

"Yeah," Tyler said coming closer with a smirk on his face. "Also had to come to make sure he didn't make a fool of himself by proposing or some dumb shit like that."

Boone blushed as Rio laughed. "I'd like to think I have some self control," he muttered.

"Around Rio?" Tyler asked, raising an eyebrow. "You ain't got a lick."

SEVEN MONTHS LATER

Boone's hands were full of Chinese takeout containers as he let himself into the small farmhouse he and Rio had just started living in just fifteen minutes outside of Sapulpa. He had to close the front door with his foot, nearly tripping as his dog Dixie raced around his feet excitedly. He chuckled and set the food down in the kitchen before leaning down, scratching behind her ears.

"Hey, baby, I'm home with the food!" Boone called out to Rio. And he frowned when she didn't immediately come to the kitchen — Chinese night was her favorite. So, he wandered to the living room, not seeing her in there either. "You home?"

"Um, back in the back," Rio called a bit weakly.

Since she didn't specify which room, he had to check a few of them, finally reaching their bedroom and not seeing her. So, he wandered to the connected bathroom, finally spotting Rio.

She was sitting on the floor, her back and head to the wall with her knees drawn to her chest, tears welling in her eyes even though the corners of her lips were turned up weakly.

Immediately, Boone forgot all about dinner as he rushed to her side, Dixie right behind him. He crouched next to her, reaching for her hands. "Baby, what's wrong? You sick?"

The longer Rio sat there without looking at him, the more worried that he got. But he didn't press her, wanting her to tell him what was wrong in her own time. So, he just kept rubbing her hands comfortingly.

Eventually, moving slowly, she let go of one of his hands and reached underneath her leg. He watched with a confused frown as she pulled out a white and purple plastic stick, handing it to him to give him a better look.

A pregnancy test.

One with two little lines side by side.

"Baby, are you—" Boone cut himself off, looking from the positive test to her glassy eyes. She was studying his expression carefully, unable to tell through the shock if he was upset or not. "Baby, are we havin' a baby?"

"D - Do you wanna have one?" she asked vulnerably. "I can - I can move out if not. But I ain't - I ain't getting rid of it. I won't."

Boone was shaking his head, dropping the stick so that he could cup her cheeks firmly. "Don't you dare even think about leaving me, Rio. Not now and not ever," he said, a beautiful smile splitting his face. "We're gone have a baby."

"We're gonna have a baby," she repeated, laughing a bit — it was part nerves and part excitement even though this wasn't how they planned for their future to go.

Then Boone perked up, reminding her so much of Dixie when they pulled out her favorite toy. "Hold right there," he said before scrambling to his feet.

Rio stayed put, listening as he seemed to scour their bedroom for something. He knocked something off the nightstand, cursing as he did so. She shut her eyes and winced when she heard the glass of a lamp breaking.

"I can fix that!" he shouted, making her laugh.

Then Boone was running back into the room, his hands behind his back. He got on the floor once more in front of her, a now nervous expression on his face.

"Rio Caldas," he said, breathing heavily. Then he brought his hands out from behind his back, showing off a ring box. Rio's eyes went wide as she sat a bit straighter, looking from it to his eager eyes. "I wanna marry the crap out of you."

Then he opened the box up, showing off a beautiful engagement ring that had her heart hammering in her chest.

"B - Boone," she said, swallowing thickly. "How long you had that?"

"Since you moved in three months ago," he admitted sheepishly. "But I love you so much."

She reached out and cupped his cheek. "I love you too," she said as he leaned into her touch. "But don't just do this 'cause I'm pregnant."

He turned his head and kissed her palm, smiling softly. "I've wanted to marry you since I first saw you," he reassured her. "It ain't the baby. It's your mind and heart and the way you make me feel more alive than chasin' any storm does. So, please, please, marry me, Rio."

"Yeah," she nodded, more tears in her eyes as she pulled Boone closer. "I'll marry you."

He kissed her hard, both grinning so widely into it that their teeth bumped clumsily, not that either cared. And finally, when they pulled away, Boone slid the band onto her finger, both marveling at it.

Boone grabbed her left hand and kissed it before leaning down low, kissing her flat stomach and making her laugh.

"I'm gonna love you so much," he cooed as Rio ran her hands through his hair. "Me and your mama both."

"They can't hear you yet," she said, grinning.

"Sure she can," he said, giving her a pointed look.

"Might be a boy," she told him, her grin morphing to a smirk. "Feels like a boy."

Boone raised a challenging eyebrow. "Wanna bet?"

FOUR YEARS LATER

"Look at her go!" Boone cheered, jumping up and down. "That's my soccer star."

"Boone, Sophia's three and a half," Rio said, rolling her eyes behind her sunglasses. "Calm down."

Boone and Tyler were kicking a ball slowly back and forth in the backyard with the toddler, who was more focused on giggling that kicking the soccer ball. And as she played around with her father and uncle, her twin brother was curled into Javi's side, who was flying a toy plane around his head, making him babble and grin.

"Nah, she's gone be an Olympian," Boone said assuredly.

Kate snickered. "And what's that make Benson?" she asked.

"A pilot, duh," Javi said, snickering as Benson snatched the toy from him, bringing it to his mouth to chew on it.

"Planes are horrible for the environment, Javi," Rio reminded him, making him roll his eyes.

"Okay, he can be an eco-warrior like his moms," Javi said, coming back over with Benson, who immediately started reaching for Kate. She was all too happy to hold him, laughing as he began twisting the shining wedding ring on her own finger that matched the one on Tyler's hand.

Kate was eager to hold the toddler, anxious as ever to be with the twins now that she had a son of her own on the way.

Then Javi sat next to Rio, throwing an arm around her shoulder. Both watched Tyler and Boone with Sophia, small smiles on their faces. Boone was very dramatically blocking the ball, throwing his whole body on the ground as if he was a goalie in a soccer game — as if the ball wasn't moving two miles per hour.

Sophia forgot all about the ball and ran to her father's side, grabbing his cheeks and making him smile. Then he swooped in and kissed all over her face, making her laugh.

"You got a perfect little family here, Dirt Grub," Javi said, a smile on his face as she leaned into his side.

"We gotta get you one of your own now," she said, a smirk on her face.

"Please," he scoffed. "That's the last thing on my mind right now."

"Well, it's a good time. Storm PAR is in a really good place. You'd have the time if you wanted to look to settle down," she told him quietly.

"We'll see," he shrugged. "But you and Boone are gonna make me and whoever look like the most passionless couple in the world with how gross you two still are."

Rio laughed and shook her head. "We are not gross."

As if to prove her wrong, Boone came over to them, leaving Sophia with Tyler, who was all too happy to roll the soccer ball back and forth with her. Since they were on the grass, Boone threw himself down, arms on either side of Rio as he clumsily fell on top of her.

"Hey, baby," he greeted with a big grin.

"Hi, Coach Boone," she said, tucking some of his hair behind his ear that'd fallen from underneath his bandana. "Havin' fun?"

"Not as much fun as when I do this," he said, leaning in to kiss her softly. She sighed happily into his mouth, cupping his cheek. "That's much more fun."

"Break your daughter's heart why don't you?" she asked teasingly. Boone nudged her nose gently with his.

"Coach, I need you!" Tyler shouted. "I'm losing against her."

"I'd better get back in there," Boone declared. "Ty will never recover from a loss against her."

"Good luck," she said as Boone swooped in to kiss Benson's cheek, who giggled happily.

"Hey," Boone said, looking down at her as he stood up, a dreamy look on his face. "I love you."

She grinned right back, happier than she'd ever been. "I love you too."