Despite it being Elizabeth’s invitation to the party, John had insisted on picking her up and driving her to the venue. He toyed briefly with the idea of hiring a flash car to try and impress one of his favourite writers, but after a quick look at the prices, not including the insurance, he thought better of it. As much as he wanted to be that guy, he had other plans for the money they had saved up whilst living in Pegasus, and the rental car the SGC had given him was just fine for taking Elizabeth to a party and home again. He had recognised his slightly insane idea for what it was, luckily, before he had gone any further; he knew he didn’t need to try and impress her. They had been friends for years after all, he had hoped they would always be; he just had to remind himself not to go overboard and show off.
Stepping up the stairs to her front door, he drew a deep breath, raising his hand to knock on the door. Before he could knock on the door he wiped his hands over his face and through his hair with another sigh as he tried to calm his stampeding heart. He and Elizabeth had never been out together like this before; a few celebration nights here and there whilst on Atlantis and they just happened to move around the celebrants together didn’t count in John’s opinion.
This was a date.
The mere thought had freaked him out quite a bit whilst he had been getting ready. In fact he had floundered so much that he had eventually run short on time and flown around his quarters, throwing on his uniform, finding his keys, his hat, his wallet and Elizabeth’s rose to get ready in time. Now, standing before her door at zero-hour, John found himself faltering again.
That was until the door opened, revealing the vision that was Elizabeth Weir. Resplendent in an elegantly simple, strapless, crimson red dress. The fabric seemed to wrap comfortably around her torso and gently emphasise her chest, cinched at the waist with a delicate crystal clasp, leaving the remaining fabric to drape down to the floor and smooth over her hips. His eyes travelled back up to her face, leaving his jaw almost on the ground, and focussed on her beautiful face. Her hair was down around her shoulders in gently fashioned curls; he’d been so glad when she started growing it out, he thought she was beautiful whatever her hair looked like but the longer locks made her more feminine. Her make-up was light and natural, no bright colours, but her eyes were striking. Soft gold and bronze eye shadow, with precise black eyeliner defining her gorgeous green eyes with black mascara drawing him in to their depths.
He saw her lips move and knew she was speaking but didn’t really hear what she had said until she repeated it, “John? Are you okay?” She sounded amused as she watched his reaction to her outfit, glad to have the shoe on the other foot after the tea incident the other day. He wasn’t entirely sure he’d be able to make it through this evening. Not with her looking like that anyway.
“Umm...yeah, yeah, just,” he found himself mumbling his words in response to her and he swallowed to give himself some time to collect himself. “You look amazing,” he complimented her quietly, almost shyly and he saw a blush rise up her neck at his comment.
“Thank you,” she replied quietly with a gentle smile. “You look rather dashing yourself,” she teased with a sultry voice, watching a blush to match hers engulfed his face and he suddenly became very interested in his shoes. “One thing though,” she stepped up to him and John suddenly saw that there was a split in her dress, all the way up to her waist but closing high up on her left leg. All the air seemed to leave his lungs and he found himself coughing as her hands came up to his tie.
“Sorry, think I swallowed a bug,” he offered weakly to which she laughed, almost a giggle John thought.
“Come here,” she smiled and used her hands on his shoulders to stand him so he was facing her then started to straighten his tie. “Did you get dressed in the dark?” she asked, quietly teasing him as she gently took hold of his tie and tightened it. His mouth flapped like a fish out of water, exactly like he felt really. He couldn’t take his eyes off Elizabeth, running them greedily up and down her figure, stopping a few times on the expanse of beautiful creamy skin her strapless gown presented him with; long elegant arms, the long slope of her neck and the fantastic vision of her chest, covering just enough that she wasn’t indecent but leaving enough exposed that he couldn’t help but fantasize about what lay beneath the fabric. “John?”
“Mmm…yeah?” he could barely get around all the syllables, his tongue felt like rubber in his mouth and he dragged his eyes up to her beautiful face again to find she was still looking at him with that expression which said ‘I am amused by your cuteness despite having just asked you a question I’d like a reply to’. He hoped that would bode well for him tonight since he couldn’t imagine his mindset ever changing while she was in that dress.
“Would you like to come in for a minute? I just have to finish my make-up and grab my wrap and purse,” she stood to the side of the door and he stepped in, tripping over the bottom of the door which found him face to face with Elizabeth’s breasts. To her credit, she didn’t move but when he stood upright quickly he apologised and continued to move swiftly through her home to the living room, cursing his new-found clumsiness. “I hope you can manage to wrangle those limbs before we get to the party,” she teased and he heard her move upstairs.
He sat down in the front room, only then realising that he hadn’t given her the rose he’d spent over an hour choosing this morning. He swore to himself and tried to get his mind back in the game. It wasn’t like he’d never been on a date after all. Granted it had been a long time since the last one, but that was no excuse for the way he was at the moment. Standing and shaking himself, as if to shake the cobwebs from his mind, John heard Elizabeth coming back down the stairs and took a deep breath. Elizabeth was his friend. He could do this.
Except when she walked in the room, his jaw dropped again. The train coming off the back of her dress made her look all the more elegant and John wondered for what seemed like the hundredth time today why she was taking him to this party when she could have picked Carson or that new scientist Dr. Branston or whatever his name was. He seemed far more suave and suited to this kind of social gathering.
“Ok, I’m ready,” she told him, picking up her clutch bag from the side table in her living room. He stepped up to her and handed her the rose with a shy little smile and a tiny shrug, feeling like he was ten years old with his first crush. “Thank you John, let me just put it in water and we can go,” she smiled at him.
As she walked away he heaved a deep sigh and looked skywards, shaking his head in disbelief that she had turned him into an amoeba. Upon her return, he offered her his arm with the most gentlemanly bow he could muster, loving the sound of her laugh as he did so, then escorted her out to his waiting ‘carriage’, which was in fact a Toyota Denali.
Let’s face it, who’s going to really see the car? John thought as they pulled off.