HOLY SMOKES

five. for you

"You just gonna keep starin'?" Magnolia chuckled, shaking her head a little as she sat next to Boone on the tailgate of Tyler's truck.

"'Til I know you're really here."

"I'm really here." She nodded, reaching for his hand and intertwining their fingers. "Can't believe you chase tornadoes, makes sense though."

"That a good thing or a bad thing?"

"The best thing."

He smiled wide, making her own smile grow. And again, he found himself just looking at her, "sorry, I just... you look amazing."

Her cheek flushed as her eyes drifted to their interlocked hands that rested in her lap. "You look good, too, Boone. I like the mustache."

"Yeah?" He reached his free hand up, running his fingers over the facial hair.

She nodded, "I remember when you couldn't even grow any facial hair, you were so mad."

He chuckled, rolling his eyes a little, "I wasn't mad-"

"You didn't talk to Ty for a week when he grew that beard junior year." She laughed, throwing her head back at the memory and he watched, his eyes drifting from the way her nose scrunched to the way her lips parted, then to the curve of her neck. "He looked ridiculous. Had to convince him to shave it."

"I stopped bein' mad though." He mumbled.

"Only 'cause I made you talk to him." She shifted closer to him as they fell into a comfortable silence. She smiled to herself as she traced nonsense lines on the back of his hand.

She felt like she could breathe again. She hadn't even realized how hard it had gotten to breathe since she told him goodbye. The moment she had pulled away from him, her chest ached and her lungs struggled to suck any air in.

She had grown accustomed to that feeling, so much so that from the moment she saw him, she wondered how she had lived like that for so long.

"You seem to be doin' pretty good for yourself." He hummed, trying to distract himself from the fact that her left hand was bare. He knew it was ridiculous to think she still wore it after all these years, but he had hoped she did. And now he needed anything to get his mind off of it.

"Yeah, the non-profit is doin' great. We have a lot of branches all over..." she trailed off. She knew that very few people cared about it the way she did.

"Do ya just do tornado relief or do ya support other causes, too?" He asked and she looked genuinely surprised. "What?"

"No one's really asked before."

He smiled, bringing her hand to press a kiss to her knuckles, "I wanna know everythin'."

She smiled so wide and so bright that it rivaled the sun, then she told him about every cause they supported and all the causes she hoped to expand to in the future.

They talked for hours, catching up and reminiscing, and all the while she held onto his hand.

"Hey, Boone, we got one." Tyler hit the side of the truck, stopping Magnolia mid sentence. "So, Maggie, you wanna ride." He grinned, making his eyebrows jump a little.

"Oh, no, I'm gonna stay as far away as possible."

"You gonna watch the live stream?" Boone asked hopefully, his smile wide as he jumped off the tailgate.

"Wouldn't miss it," she nodded and his smile grew as he leaned forward, pressing a kiss to her cheek. Her cheeks flushed and she giggled as he placed his hands on her hips and lifted her off the tailgate before putting her in her feet. "Just be safe, okay?"

"Don't worry, angel, we're professionals." He smirked and she chuckled, shaking her head a little as she took a step back.

"Okay, come on, we gotta get on it before the StormPAR nerds." Tyler waved his hand a little, like he was rushing the boy. "Let's go."

"I'll see y'all when ya get back." Magnolia told him and he nodded, kissing her cheek once more before he reluctantly let her go and rounded the truck.

"See ya in a bit, Maggie." Tyler tipped his towards her and she rolled her eyes a little before she backed away from the truck as he pushed the tailgate up.

She waved as they pulled out of the parking, and she laughed when she heard Tyler crank the radio up.

Five minutes later, she and the rest of her team were at the diner. She had her laptop open, watching as Boone and Tyler drove right towards the vortex before them.

She had worried her bottom lip between her teeth and she toyed with her necklace, but she was enthralled nonetheless.

Still she managed to hear most of what the team had to say. They were exhausted, that much was clear. And some of them were having a hard time coping with the amount of loss they saw so often.

A few even asked if they could go home early, which Magnolia made flight arrangements for while keeping the Tornado Wranglers video open in a small window in the top right hand corner of her screen.

"And you talked to those YouTubers, right?" Hunter asked, drawing her attention away from the screen as the drove right into the tornado. "What did you come up with?"

"Oh, yeah, um... I did." She nodded, her blue eyes flickering back towards the screen just to make sure Tyler and Boone were okay and for a moment she watched as the video shifted from inside the truck to a view that was way above the ground. Then she watched as red smoke twirled with the vortex before fading out.

She shook her head and focused back on Hunter, "I'm gonna get with Dani, she runs their socials, and we're gonna do a little bit of a campaign to get the word out. Um, they already added our link to the live stream that they're doing and we have gotten quite a few donations.

"I was also thinkin' about doing a few videos with them, ya know, to get our message out there to a wider audience. We don't have a big presence on YouTube, but I think if we promote it enough on our other socials we should be able to gain a few more supporters."

Magnolia's attention was pulled back to the screen for a moment as the tornado passed and Tyler and Boone jumped out of the truck. Both were grinning from ear to ear, and she could just barely hear them shouting in her headphones that rested around her neck. But she had work to do, so she looked away from the screen.

"I think that's it for now, for those of you going home, your flights are scheduled for tomorrow morning. I appreciate all your help, you have made a huge difference in these people's lives. When you get back, please take you time. Rest a little, and you can talk to Kelly about your next assignments."

Then after a few more questions and some goodbyes, most of them left. Magnolia waved before pulling her headphones on to catch the end of the video.

"And please check out the link down below, we are working with a real amazing girl that runs a non-profit. Magnolia is raising money for tornado relief, and we'd appreciate it if you would check out her socials, which are also linked below." Tyler smiled as he talked to the camera, then the camera was turned and Boone's face took up the screen.

"Please check her out, she's gonna make a real difference one day." His hand absently moved to the cross that hung around his neck, which he usually kept tucked into his shirt. And Magnolia nearly cried when she realized he was wearing her necklace. "And you can read all 'bout her work, 'bout the people she helps and all the good she's done. It's all linked below."

Tyler came up beside him, his smile wide as they did their outro.

"Maggie," Hunter tapped the table next to her arm getting her attention just as Tyler started their catch phrase and Boone finished it.

"Yeah, what?" She asked, wiping at her eyes as she looked up at him and pulled her headphones off of her ears.

His brows were crushed and he looked a little worried, "you okay?"

"Oh, yeah." She nodded. "Just a lot of emotions, ya know. Been nearly ten years since I saw 'em. Brought up a lot."

He nodded, offering a smile. "Well, this one didn't seem to hit any towns. I've been following it on the Doppler."

"That's good."

"But there are a few towns that still need some help, if you wanna head out there."

"Yeah, of course." She closed her laptop but not before catching the ever rising number in the tornado relief fund. "Let's head out."

>>>>> • <<<<<

It had been late by the time Magnolia reached the motel that night, she was exhausted and her arms hurt from all the lifting she had done. She and her team had spent most of the day helping dig through the rubble of a nearby town in hopes of salvaging anything.

They had managed to find a few pictures, most with the frames broken. They found some photo albums that had been a little warped by the rain. She had even found a ring box, a beautiful ring inside and she hoped they could find who it had belonged to.

She sat behind the wheel of her Bronco, her eyes closed and her head pressed into the headrest. Her fingers toyed with the ring that hung around her neck as she took a few steadying breaths.

It had been a while since she had actually been in the field. She had missed it, she loved the heavy lifting and helping people first hand but she had forgotten just how awful it really was to see the aftermath of a storm.

She jumped a little when someone tapped softly on the window, her blue eyes wide as she looked over. She relaxed, a smile tugging at her lips when she saw Boone standing there.

She pushed the door open and he took a step back, giving her room as she jumped down. "Hey."

"You okay?" He asked, his brows creased as he searched her eyes. "What's wrong?"

"Oh, nothin' really."

He raised an eyebrow, "the truth, angel."

She smiled at the name, it had always warmed her heart. "The team and I drove a few towns over to help out where that tornado hit the other day. It's just... it's been a while since I've seen that, ya know. Not since high school."

There had been a tornado that touched down close to their school their senior year. He remembered the panic that flooded him the second those sirens went off. It happened during the only class of the day that he didn't share with Magnolia and she was on the other end of the school.

When the teacher told him to get down and cover his head, like they had practiced in elementary school, he ignored her and ran through the halls in search of the girl. And lucky for him, his best friend was right behind him.

"Boone!" Tyler got his attention, slapped his back when he saw the blonde before the other boy. He turned and rushed towards her, wrapping her in his arms and holding her close as the teacher told them to get down. And he did, but he made sure she was completely covered by his body.

After what felt like hours but was mere minutes, the sirens cut off when the tornado had vanished. School had been canceled for the rest of the day and most of the students had gone to help out. And Boone made sure to stay by Magnolia's side the entire time.

"It's just hard to see is all." She managed a smile and he was quick to secure his arms around her, hoping to bring her some comfort.

"Why didn't you call? I woulda came to help."

She shrugged her shoulders a little, leaning into him a little more as her hands fisted around the back of his shirt. "You were busy."

"Never too busy for you," he mumbled, and even if it had been years since he last saw her, he meant it.