Disclaimer: I don't own a thing. I'm just having some fun.
Author's Note: So, YouTube recommended a collection of JR Ewing quotes and I haven't been the same person since. I found this site while hunting for JR and Sue Ellen fanfictions. (There are so many great ones here. Thank you to all the writers for sharing their stories.) I don't know if people still visit this thread but when I wrote this one-shot, I thought why not put this out into the world. As it is, there isn't enough JR and Sue Ellen romance! I should say right at the top that I only have a vague idea about their courtship. I don't know how JR actually proposed to Sue Ellen and what were her thoughts about it. This is just my interpretation.
If by some miracle anyone reads this, drop a comment. And I sincerely hope you have just as much fun reading it as I had while writing!
Author's Note: So, YouTube recommended a collection of JR Ewing quotes and I haven't been the same person since. I found this site while hunting for JR and Sue Ellen fanfictions. (There are so many great ones here. Thank you to all the writers for sharing their stories.) I don't know if people still visit this thread but when I wrote this one-shot, I thought why not put this out into the world. As it is, there isn't enough JR and Sue Ellen romance! I should say right at the top that I only have a vague idea about their courtship. I don't know how JR actually proposed to Sue Ellen and what were her thoughts about it. This is just my interpretation.
If by some miracle anyone reads this, drop a comment. And I sincerely hope you have just as much fun reading it as I had while writing!
The Treachery Of Beautiful Things
“He's waiting for you outside.”
She barely heard the words, engrossed as she was in her needlework. She looked up when someone said her name. Her sorority sisters were crowding the doorway of her room, the excitement on their faces effectively answering the question forming on her lips.
Sue Ellen jumped up to her feet and rushed to the window that overlooked the grounds below, not caring that she'd later be teased by the other girls for it.
He was standing on the other side of the road, leaning against his car, his head bowed in a way that she knew meant he was in deep thought. The afternoon sun washed over him, bringing out the rich mahogany of his hair. He was in his vest, the top two buttons of his shirt undone and sleeves rolled up to his elbows. He was even more handsome this way– approachable, sharp good looks softened at the edges.
It was only when she was out of the house and halfway across the grounds that she realised she was still holding the tambour frame in her hand.
But he was looking at her now, his lips stretching into a warm smile, eyes crinkled at the corners and Sue Ellen had no way of disguising the extent of her stupidity. His smile turned into a huff of amused laughter when he saw her toss away the frame into a nearby bush. She felt the blood rushing to her face, and dipped her head to avoid his gaze. Taking slow steps towards him, she made a conscious effort to collect herself.
It went in vain however when, as soon as she was within his reach, his hand wrapped around her wrist and he pulled her to himself with a sort of lazy self assurance that made her weak in the knees. The low drawl of his words washed over her. “You’re a sight for sore eyes.”
Sue Ellen was suddenly self conscious. Both by her appearance and the stares they were receiving. When she had chosen the well worn blouse and skirt she was dressed in at the moment, fashion had been the last consideration on her mind. She had wanted to spend a quiet day in the house.
The stares were an entirely different matter altogether.
One would think she’d have gotten used to it by now. After all, it wasn't unusual for JR to get recognised anywhere in Texas.
When they had first started seeing each other two years ago, it hardly fazed her. In fact nothing could've made more sense. She was the newly crowned Miss Texas and he, the heir to the mighty Ewing empire. They seemed destined to be together, to bask in the attention they got.
This feeling had changed with her failure at the Miss America contest. Now the lingering stares felt more like a question. What was a man like JR Ewing doing with a ‘has been’ like her?
She wondered the same thing. She had consoled herself with that very thought when the frequency of his calls had lessened in the past few months.
“Why didn't you call…?” She paused. Knowing that that question could lead to unwelcome answers, she amended what she had been about to say, “I mean I could've been in class right now.”
“I was already in the car before the thought occurred to me.” He drew her closer, so close that she could see herself reflected on the pupils of his quicksilver eyes. His voice dropped as he added, “Lucky it worked out, Miss Texas. You're right here. But I’d have waited if you hadn't been.”
The idea of him waiting for anyone was strange. Come to think of it, everything about this was strange. She knew how much he disliked meeting her at the university, where everyone gawked at him, or tried to ingratiated themselves to him. But not only was he here, he was here on a Monday afternoon. Knowing that only something serious would keep him away from Ewing Oil at this time of the day, she asked, “Is something wrong, JR?”
“No, darlin’. Not a single thing.” he said, lifting his fingers to tuck away a few strands of her hair behind her ear. “I just couldn’t wait.”
His voice was rough in her ears, hot breath warming the side of her face. Her heart had begun to hammer against her chest, the sound drowning out every other noise around them.
“For what?”
“Sue Ellen, I was thinking,” he began, dipping his head closer still.
“JR, what…”
He silenced her with a small shake of head. The proximity with him was heady, irresistible, dangerous. She closed her eyes, trying to find some semblance of composure but the feeling of his fingers against her cheek, the thumb tipping her chin up caused all thoughts to melt away before they could fully form.
“You should marry me.”
Her eyes flew open, studying his face, even though she didn't know what she was looking for. Perhaps amusement. What else could explain this strange behaviour? But all she saw in his eyes was sincere determination. Her entire world tilted a little on its axis then and the only thing she could do was repeat herself dumbly. “What?”
Before he could answer, before she could even wrap her mind around the thought, a giddy laugh was already bubbling up to her lips and she couldn’t have stopped it from spilling out of her for anything. JR’s expression morphed into a look of satisfaction, a look that she had grown so familiar and so enchanted with.
Later, she thought about the unusual proposal. It hadn't been like anything she had ever imagined. There were no flowers, no declaration of undying love made on bent knees. There hadn't even been a ring. Although that came later. Seven carat, teardrop shaped diamond, set in platinum.
Most of all, she thought about her own response. There were so many things she could’ve said to him in reply. Things she should have asked. Like why he thought she should marry him. She should've gotten him to enumerate the reasons why he felt his life would be incomplete without her. At least that way she would have sounded flirtatious instead of sounding like a broken tape recorder. She should’ve definitely tried to get him to say that he loved her.
Her mother had laughed at her when she shared her concerns. “Love is the last thing that matters. Think of the luxuries, the power, the prestige you'll have as his wife.”
"I'm aware of that, mother," she sighed. "But I lo... I don't want it to be a loveless match."
At the disturbed expression on Sue Ellen’s face, she asked, “Is it very important for you to hear him say the words?”
“It would be nice, yes.”
Her mother patted the sofa, asking her to take a seat next to her, before saying, “Often men find it difficult to express their emotions. Men like JR… they’re raised to be brave, to not show any weakness or vulnerability to anyone. So he may never say it. But that shouldn’t matter as long as he feels it, no?”
She nodded in understanding. Her mother was right. It shouldn’t matter. Especially when she knew she loved him, loved the way he talked, loved feeling the weight of his gaze on her, loved how everything else faded when they were together. She had never thought she could feel the emotions he evoked in her. She didn’t know it was possible to want someone as much as she wanted him. Her heart ballooned with pride every time someone spoke of his successes.
No, it didn’t matter that he hadn’t said the words. It was apparent to her how important his family was to him and he wanted her to be a part of it, to share his life, to be a part of his future. That had to be enough of a confession.
She remembered how the tone of his voice had been when he had said that they should get married. It had been so certain. As if it was all very simple. All so easy.
And maybe it was.
She recalled how he had smiled at her, boyish and carefree, how his other hand had joined in cupping her face, his palms cool against her burning skin, how he had sealed their mouths together in a kiss that had her toes curling in her shoes, how he hadn't cared that people had started hooting and laughing. As if they were the only two people in the world.
“Are you sure? Marriage is a big step,” Paula said the night before her family was invited to Southfork to formally meet the Ewings.
It was indeed. The more she thought about it, the more she said the word in her mind, the more aware she became of the weight it carried, the bond that it would encapsulate. Marriage. She wouldn’t have said that all of it didn’t make her a little anxious. She was aware of his reputation with women, was aware that everyone thought she was marrying him for his money.
But how could she say no? To JR Ewing? Who was the most eligible bachelor in the state of Texas. Who could give her everything her mother had dreamt for her. Who had stopped her dead on her feet with a single look, even that first time.
fin.
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