fic: Wrong Kind Of Guy - Part Two [PG-13]
TITLE: Wrong Kind Of Guy - Part Two
AUTHOR: Tielan
SUMMARY: He wasn't Elizabeth's choice of knight in shining armour, but he'd do. In a pinch, she wasn’t going to be picky.
CATEGORY: crackfic, shermer_high AU
RATING: PG-13
NOTES: This is another WIP, about 8,000 words short of finishing. I'm hoping that getting it out will produce a little encouragement to keep writing the story, because the muse is slightly stalled. I can't quite work out what to call the story, it was either this or 'Knitting Orangutangs' - and that seemed a little esoteric.
Part One was initially titled 'Invitation' and is the snowball that starts off the whole series. It's probably best to read that chapter first before getting into this one.
sugargroupie can consider this her birthday present. And possibly muse inspiration? *g*
Wrong Kind Of Guy - Part Two
She wasn't smiling when she turned the corner into the street and nearly bumped into someone coming into the alleyway.
Her first instinct was to apologise.
Her second was to run.
"Hello, Elizabeth." Aaron Kolya regarded her with a predator's smile, one hand resting on her arm where he'd grabbed to stabilise them both after the initial collision. "How nice to see you here."
"Kolya," she said, making a curse of his name. "Can't say the same."
Kolya was the leader of gang of guys who'd attended the other high school in the region. He held a long-standing enmity for John that went back several years, and somehow Elizabeth had gotten caught up in it. It probably was some stupid macho thing to do with possession and ownership - not that she was owned by John in any case.
But she was careful never to show fear around him.
He eyed her, the handsome, heavy features of his face shifting into a subtle smile that chilled her to the marrow. He made a show of looking up and down the empty alley. "What? No Sheppard?"
Elizabeth pulled her arm from his grasp. "We're not joined at the hip!"
"Too bad for him," murmured Kolya as he looked her over. Her skin crawled like spiders were walking over it. "Headed home alone, then?"
"I don't want your company!"
She turned and began walking again, only to gasp when he caught her arm. A tingling pain began in her forearm as he dug his fingers into a nerve cluster with ruthless pleasure. Elizabeth looked up at him. There were tears forming in her eyes but rage formed her lips about her words. "Let. Me. Go."
He loosened his grasp on her, but didn't completely let her go. Instead, his fingers stroked down her arm in a parody of a caress. "Too good for anyone but Sheppard, Elizabeth?"
Elizabeth jerked away. "Get your hands off me." She started to walk away, only to stop when the older boy slipped around her, blocking her exit. "Kolya..."
His smile was a study. "Elizabeth?"
Right. Her diplomacy class with Ms. Johnson was studying negotiation tactics right now. When in a position of weakness, concede a few of the things they want, play for time, keep your advantages close and look for the crucial turnpoint in negotiations. "I'd like to go home," she said, adrenaline fuelling her thoughts.
"Oh, you'll go home," he replied, "eventually."
She didn't like the sound of that 'eventually' but it wasn't as though she had a choice. "Talk while you walk," she said, working at keeping her voice calm. "I want to get home now."
"We don't always get what we want," said Kolya. At least he wasn't smiling now, although his expression was almost worse than the slight smile he'd worn before. "Although sometimes we do."
Elizabeth slapped his hand away as he ran his fingers down her face. "Don't touch me!"
"Is there a problem?"
They'd been facing each other across the width of the alley and failed to notice the approach of a third party.
To say they were surprised was an understatement.
Ronon Dex wasn't one of the cool kids at school - or even one of the uncool kids. He was new to the area, and was in senior year, a johnny-come-lately to the cliques and groups of Shermer. There were all kinds of rumours about him, ranging from him being part of a street gang where the initiation ceremonies required you to carve your initials in someone's butt - deep enough to scar them forever, to his being a drug dealer, to his being brought up by natives in Africa.
The last was definitely untrue. Elizabeth had seen his record and he'd been born in Hawaii, a citizen of the United States.
Whatever the truth, the dreadlocked boy had kept his lips firmly closed about it. He also kept to himself, making no particular friends, although John had tried recruiting him for the football team, and Mark Lorne had tried recruiting him for track. Neither had any success.
He even shared a class with her - the senior English Lit. class. Although what he was doing in that class was questionable. Elizabeth had heard someone snigger that it would be like teaching an orangutang to knit.
In the two weeks since the start of school, Ronon's reputation had been established as someone not to cross. The consequences of such defiance included being bitten, stabbed, or possibly tied up and dragged along behind the motorbike he was reputed to own.
He wasn't Elizabeth's choice of knight in shining armour, but he'd do. In a pinch, she wasn't going to be picky.
And she was definitely feeling the pinch.
Ronon looked from Elizabeth to Kolya, then back to Elizabeth, then back to Kolya. "She doesn't seem too interested in you."
It was mildly observed, but Kolya's expression took on a slight edge.
"Looks can deceive," he replied, but his hand had dropped away from her, hovering by his pocket. No bullying, no blustering, just the preparation for a fight.
"They can," Ronon agreed, nonchalantly amiable. He stuck his hands in the pockets of his scruffy jeans, casually pushing back the edges of his jacket to show the hilt of the knife tucked into his belt.
Kolya was older and meaner, but Ronon had the muscle and the attitude down.
And he looked like the kind of guy who wouldn't fight by the rules.
She knew the thoughts that were running through Kolya's head. None of it showed on his face, but she knew.
Elizabeth flinched as Kolya leaned towards her. "There's always a next time," he murmured. And the look he shot her was a warning and a promise. He arched a mocking eyebrow at Ronon, who turned to watch him go, his hands staying near his knife as Kolya sauntered past him, down the alleyway and out into the street at the other end.
She let out a long breath and pushed her hair out of her face, resting her hands on her cheeks in an attempt to cool down the flushed skin. "Thanks."
"I'm guessing you didn't want him breathing down your throat." His hands were still stuck in his pockets, but he shifted slightly so the coat dropped back over the hilt of the knife.
"Good guess," she said. "He's a jerk."
"I can tell," he said. Somehow, he managed to smile while saying it, yet seem perfectly serious. And the way he looked at her made her blush all over again. It wasn't dirty or measuring, just...intent. "You okay?"
"He didn't get anywhere if that's what you're asking."
"I wasn't, but it's good to hear." He glanced down the alley. "Is he going to cause you trouble later?"
The shiver ran down her spine as she followed his look. "Probably. He doesn't like John."
"Has taste, then."
Elizabeth turned on him, ready to defend her friend, only to realise the gleam in his eye meant he was laughing at her. She flushed again - this time from embarrassment. "That's not funny."
He kicked at a drink can, making it spin across the alley in a dizzying twirl. "Made you look, though," he said as his mouth quirked even further. Then he glanced at her and pulled one hand from his pocket, gesturing towards the mouth of the alley and the street beyond. "I'll walk you home."
Elizabeth looked at him, then at his hand and rolled her eyes. If he thought she was going to be patronised, he had another think coming! "I'll be fine," she said and stalked out of the alleyway.
This time she didn't bump into anyone coming the other way.
However, she did have one Ronon Dex following her with a long-legged lope that easily kept alongside her. "Are you mad because I insulted your boyfriend?"
"He's not my boyfriend!" It was a common assumption among people - and one which she and John did nothing to encourage and nothing to discourage.
"Okay," he said with a shrug of his shoulders, but continued to keep pace with her.
Elizabeth turned on her heel outside the Wilsons' house and glared at him. He correspondingly stopped, tucking his hands back into his jacket pockets as she asked, "Why are you following me?"
He seemed surprised at her question. "I'm seeing you home."
As if she'd asked! "Shouldn't you ask me if I want you to see me home?"
"Did you want to run into that guy again?"
Her skin chilled. "He wouldn't."
"He might."
She glared at him. "Are you trying to intimidate me?"
He smirked at that. "Weir, if I was trying to intimidate you, you'd know it."
Fine. He'd set himself to be her guard dog. Whatever. If she wasn't going to get rid of him easily, then she might as well let him walk her home - although what her mom would say about him, Elizabeth couldn't imagine.
And she wasn't going to have him call her 'Weir' either.
"My name," she said pointedly, "is Elizabeth."
"And mine's Ronon," he replied. And when she set off again, he bounded into step beside her, like nothing so much as an oversized dog.
She didn't say anything to him for a whole block of shops, annoyed by his high-handed assumption of authority. She wasn't some fainting heroine who needed rescuing by the big hero!
Except that she had needed help to get away from Kolya, who was bigger, stronger, and a fighter besides.
"Thanks," she muttered as they waited at the street kerb for a car to go past.
"For?"
"The...the rescue."
He glanced at her. "See, that wasn't so hard."
Elizabeth felt her cheeks go hot again. "Was it so obvious?"
The large shoulders - he was really broad across the shoulders - lifted and fell as he stepped out onto the road. "You didn't like being helpless. Most girls don't."
She let the 'most girls' comment pass for the moment.
"So you think I should learn self-defence?"
"It wouldn't hurt."
"Teyla taught me some."
"She should have taught you better."
Elizabeth stopped to confront him, annoyed by his arrogance. "Do you always make judgement calls on people you don't know?"
"Do you always defend your friends this well?"
There was only one answer to that. "Yes."
"If she was a good teacher, maybe you weren't such a good student."
Elizabeth flushed. She hadn't really put any effort into learning the moves her friend had shown her, let alone practising them. There'd been other things to do, and she'd never had to defend herself before. Besides, she'd always felt violence should be a last resort.
Looking up at Ronon Dex, she reflected that she hadn't had anything else to resort to with Kolya. "Fine," she muttered. "I wasn't paying that much attention."
"You should pay a little more."
She didn't answer that.
Some junior high kids were running towards them in a whirl of sneakers and bag straps. Familiar with this crowd, Elizabeth knew that they wouldn't think twice about bowling her and Ronon over. She moved to the side of the path, flattening herself against the bole of a tree that had been planted back when the development was new. When Ronon didn't look like he was going to move out of the way, she reached out, snagged his jacket and hauled him out of the way.
The good thing was that she managed to get him out of the way in time before the kids pelted through.
The bad thing was that she found herself in really close proximity to a guy who was seriously built. And smelled male. Really male.
Wow.
Ronon frowned at her. "They would have moved."
Boys! "No," she said. "They'd have run you over."
She'd never seen a guy bare his teeth before, but, when Ronon Dex did, she could imagine that he really was part-wild like the rumours said. "They'd have tried."
"You're not that much muscle," she told him shortly. "That much ego, yes."
The only sign of his annoyance was the way his eyes narrowed, but when he spoke it was with the note of amusement she was rapidly becoming used to from him. "Do you always make judgement calls on people you don't know?"
Oh, this was great. Not that Elizabeth was a helpless heroine, but if she'd had to be saved by someone, couldn't it have been someone...reasonable? Even John would have been better than this. Possibly.
She ignored him and kept walking. After a moment he followed.
Elizabeth was grateful for the help in getting rid of Kolya, but the tailing? Not so much. "Why are you doing this?"
"What?"
"Following me around?"
"I'm seeing you home," he said. If there was a more reasonable tone with which he could annoy her, Elizabeth couldn't imagine it.
"You don't live in this area anyway."
"Nope."
"So what were you doing here in the first place?"
"Following you?"
She turned, caught his grin and just glared. The boy had a talent for getting her flustered - even John's glib cockiness had a different tenor to this. She could tell when John was trying to get her goat, Ronon seemed to have the ability to confound her without even trying.
She really wasn't usually like this with guys.
Then again, she didn't usually hang around with guys like Ronon Dex.
"How are you finding the school?"
"It's fine."
"Not much like your old school?" Not that anyone knew anything about his old school. Not that anyone knew all that much about Ronon Dex.
"Not really."
It was like getting a conversation out of Rodney when he was working on one of his projects. Worse, actually. At least you could get conversation out of Rodney that was related to the project in question, although anything else would be forgotten, dismissed, or only recalled three hours later with a, "What do you mean you're four months pregnant?"
Of course, since he'd blurted that out in front of his mom and sister, Elizabeth had been required to do some very fast explaining before Jeannie got on the phone and told all her college friends that her little brother had knocked up the girl across the road.
And she'd only said it to see if he was listening, anyway.
Ronon, on the other hand, was definitely listening. He just wasn't...interfacing.
And Elizabeth was getting tired of it. "Are you going to actually talk to me, or just grunt?"
He gave a shout of laughter, deep and exultant. "I used words," he protested.
"Not a lot of them."
"Not enough for you?"
"You could at least talk to me!"
"Walking you home is one thing, carrying on a conversation is another." But he was still laughing at her, and Elizabeth stormed past the last two houses without so much as a word.
The garage door was shut which meant her mom wasn't home. Just as well. Elizabeth didn't want to explain why this strange guy was walking her home to her mother, who was a barrister with one of the town's major law firms and cross-examined her daughter in exactly the same manner that she did witnesses. God only knew what she'd make of Ronon.
At the door, her conscience reminded her about being polite and she made a face at the glass pane and shoved her key in the lock. Then she turned and was surprised to find him waiting by the letterbox, taking in the house and garden with some wariness.
So he wasn't coming in, then? Well, that was one less thing to worry about. "Thanks for the help."
He glanced up at her. "You're welcome." His smile was quiet and warm and gave her a similarly quiet and warm feeling in her stomach. For all his teasing on the way home, Elizabeth got the feeling he had depths that nobody at Shermer had seen.
A guy that helped out a girl he didn't even know, then walked her home and didn't expect to be invited in?
Definitely depths.
It was a change from the guys she was used to, most of whom were about as subtle as sledgehammers on her grandmother's bone china. Even if he wasn't quite presentable. The phrase 'scruffy-looking' came to mind.
It was weird that Elizabeth felt oddly shy as she searched for something else to say - something to finish the conversation.
"I'll see you tomorrow?" Not that they were going to hang out or anything, she was just being polite.
Ronon shrugged, his jacket making a soft huffing noise. "It's school," he said. Then he winked once and strode off the way he'd come, his hands back in his pockets.
Elizabeth watched him go.
--
Part Three
AUTHOR: Tielan
SUMMARY: He wasn't Elizabeth's choice of knight in shining armour, but he'd do. In a pinch, she wasn’t going to be picky.
CATEGORY: crackfic, shermer_high AU
RATING: PG-13
NOTES: This is another WIP, about 8,000 words short of finishing. I'm hoping that getting it out will produce a little encouragement to keep writing the story, because the muse is slightly stalled. I can't quite work out what to call the story, it was either this or 'Knitting Orangutangs' - and that seemed a little esoteric.
Part One was initially titled 'Invitation' and is the snowball that starts off the whole series. It's probably best to read that chapter first before getting into this one.
sugargroupie can consider this her birthday present. And possibly muse inspiration? *g*
Wrong Kind Of Guy - Part Two
She wasn't smiling when she turned the corner into the street and nearly bumped into someone coming into the alleyway.
Her first instinct was to apologise.
Her second was to run.
"Hello, Elizabeth." Aaron Kolya regarded her with a predator's smile, one hand resting on her arm where he'd grabbed to stabilise them both after the initial collision. "How nice to see you here."
"Kolya," she said, making a curse of his name. "Can't say the same."
Kolya was the leader of gang of guys who'd attended the other high school in the region. He held a long-standing enmity for John that went back several years, and somehow Elizabeth had gotten caught up in it. It probably was some stupid macho thing to do with possession and ownership - not that she was owned by John in any case.
But she was careful never to show fear around him.
He eyed her, the handsome, heavy features of his face shifting into a subtle smile that chilled her to the marrow. He made a show of looking up and down the empty alley. "What? No Sheppard?"
Elizabeth pulled her arm from his grasp. "We're not joined at the hip!"
"Too bad for him," murmured Kolya as he looked her over. Her skin crawled like spiders were walking over it. "Headed home alone, then?"
"I don't want your company!"
She turned and began walking again, only to gasp when he caught her arm. A tingling pain began in her forearm as he dug his fingers into a nerve cluster with ruthless pleasure. Elizabeth looked up at him. There were tears forming in her eyes but rage formed her lips about her words. "Let. Me. Go."
He loosened his grasp on her, but didn't completely let her go. Instead, his fingers stroked down her arm in a parody of a caress. "Too good for anyone but Sheppard, Elizabeth?"
Elizabeth jerked away. "Get your hands off me." She started to walk away, only to stop when the older boy slipped around her, blocking her exit. "Kolya..."
His smile was a study. "Elizabeth?"
Right. Her diplomacy class with Ms. Johnson was studying negotiation tactics right now. When in a position of weakness, concede a few of the things they want, play for time, keep your advantages close and look for the crucial turnpoint in negotiations. "I'd like to go home," she said, adrenaline fuelling her thoughts.
"Oh, you'll go home," he replied, "eventually."
She didn't like the sound of that 'eventually' but it wasn't as though she had a choice. "Talk while you walk," she said, working at keeping her voice calm. "I want to get home now."
"We don't always get what we want," said Kolya. At least he wasn't smiling now, although his expression was almost worse than the slight smile he'd worn before. "Although sometimes we do."
Elizabeth slapped his hand away as he ran his fingers down her face. "Don't touch me!"
"Is there a problem?"
They'd been facing each other across the width of the alley and failed to notice the approach of a third party.
To say they were surprised was an understatement.
Ronon Dex wasn't one of the cool kids at school - or even one of the uncool kids. He was new to the area, and was in senior year, a johnny-come-lately to the cliques and groups of Shermer. There were all kinds of rumours about him, ranging from him being part of a street gang where the initiation ceremonies required you to carve your initials in someone's butt - deep enough to scar them forever, to his being a drug dealer, to his being brought up by natives in Africa.
The last was definitely untrue. Elizabeth had seen his record and he'd been born in Hawaii, a citizen of the United States.
Whatever the truth, the dreadlocked boy had kept his lips firmly closed about it. He also kept to himself, making no particular friends, although John had tried recruiting him for the football team, and Mark Lorne had tried recruiting him for track. Neither had any success.
He even shared a class with her - the senior English Lit. class. Although what he was doing in that class was questionable. Elizabeth had heard someone snigger that it would be like teaching an orangutang to knit.
In the two weeks since the start of school, Ronon's reputation had been established as someone not to cross. The consequences of such defiance included being bitten, stabbed, or possibly tied up and dragged along behind the motorbike he was reputed to own.
He wasn't Elizabeth's choice of knight in shining armour, but he'd do. In a pinch, she wasn't going to be picky.
And she was definitely feeling the pinch.
Ronon looked from Elizabeth to Kolya, then back to Elizabeth, then back to Kolya. "She doesn't seem too interested in you."
It was mildly observed, but Kolya's expression took on a slight edge.
"Looks can deceive," he replied, but his hand had dropped away from her, hovering by his pocket. No bullying, no blustering, just the preparation for a fight.
"They can," Ronon agreed, nonchalantly amiable. He stuck his hands in the pockets of his scruffy jeans, casually pushing back the edges of his jacket to show the hilt of the knife tucked into his belt.
Kolya was older and meaner, but Ronon had the muscle and the attitude down.
And he looked like the kind of guy who wouldn't fight by the rules.
She knew the thoughts that were running through Kolya's head. None of it showed on his face, but she knew.
Elizabeth flinched as Kolya leaned towards her. "There's always a next time," he murmured. And the look he shot her was a warning and a promise. He arched a mocking eyebrow at Ronon, who turned to watch him go, his hands staying near his knife as Kolya sauntered past him, down the alleyway and out into the street at the other end.
She let out a long breath and pushed her hair out of her face, resting her hands on her cheeks in an attempt to cool down the flushed skin. "Thanks."
"I'm guessing you didn't want him breathing down your throat." His hands were still stuck in his pockets, but he shifted slightly so the coat dropped back over the hilt of the knife.
"Good guess," she said. "He's a jerk."
"I can tell," he said. Somehow, he managed to smile while saying it, yet seem perfectly serious. And the way he looked at her made her blush all over again. It wasn't dirty or measuring, just...intent. "You okay?"
"He didn't get anywhere if that's what you're asking."
"I wasn't, but it's good to hear." He glanced down the alley. "Is he going to cause you trouble later?"
The shiver ran down her spine as she followed his look. "Probably. He doesn't like John."
"Has taste, then."
Elizabeth turned on him, ready to defend her friend, only to realise the gleam in his eye meant he was laughing at her. She flushed again - this time from embarrassment. "That's not funny."
He kicked at a drink can, making it spin across the alley in a dizzying twirl. "Made you look, though," he said as his mouth quirked even further. Then he glanced at her and pulled one hand from his pocket, gesturing towards the mouth of the alley and the street beyond. "I'll walk you home."
Elizabeth looked at him, then at his hand and rolled her eyes. If he thought she was going to be patronised, he had another think coming! "I'll be fine," she said and stalked out of the alleyway.
This time she didn't bump into anyone coming the other way.
However, she did have one Ronon Dex following her with a long-legged lope that easily kept alongside her. "Are you mad because I insulted your boyfriend?"
"He's not my boyfriend!" It was a common assumption among people - and one which she and John did nothing to encourage and nothing to discourage.
"Okay," he said with a shrug of his shoulders, but continued to keep pace with her.
Elizabeth turned on her heel outside the Wilsons' house and glared at him. He correspondingly stopped, tucking his hands back into his jacket pockets as she asked, "Why are you following me?"
He seemed surprised at her question. "I'm seeing you home."
As if she'd asked! "Shouldn't you ask me if I want you to see me home?"
"Did you want to run into that guy again?"
Her skin chilled. "He wouldn't."
"He might."
She glared at him. "Are you trying to intimidate me?"
He smirked at that. "Weir, if I was trying to intimidate you, you'd know it."
Fine. He'd set himself to be her guard dog. Whatever. If she wasn't going to get rid of him easily, then she might as well let him walk her home - although what her mom would say about him, Elizabeth couldn't imagine.
And she wasn't going to have him call her 'Weir' either.
"My name," she said pointedly, "is Elizabeth."
"And mine's Ronon," he replied. And when she set off again, he bounded into step beside her, like nothing so much as an oversized dog.
She didn't say anything to him for a whole block of shops, annoyed by his high-handed assumption of authority. She wasn't some fainting heroine who needed rescuing by the big hero!
Except that she had needed help to get away from Kolya, who was bigger, stronger, and a fighter besides.
"Thanks," she muttered as they waited at the street kerb for a car to go past.
"For?"
"The...the rescue."
He glanced at her. "See, that wasn't so hard."
Elizabeth felt her cheeks go hot again. "Was it so obvious?"
The large shoulders - he was really broad across the shoulders - lifted and fell as he stepped out onto the road. "You didn't like being helpless. Most girls don't."
She let the 'most girls' comment pass for the moment.
"So you think I should learn self-defence?"
"It wouldn't hurt."
"Teyla taught me some."
"She should have taught you better."
Elizabeth stopped to confront him, annoyed by his arrogance. "Do you always make judgement calls on people you don't know?"
"Do you always defend your friends this well?"
There was only one answer to that. "Yes."
"If she was a good teacher, maybe you weren't such a good student."
Elizabeth flushed. She hadn't really put any effort into learning the moves her friend had shown her, let alone practising them. There'd been other things to do, and she'd never had to defend herself before. Besides, she'd always felt violence should be a last resort.
Looking up at Ronon Dex, she reflected that she hadn't had anything else to resort to with Kolya. "Fine," she muttered. "I wasn't paying that much attention."
"You should pay a little more."
She didn't answer that.
Some junior high kids were running towards them in a whirl of sneakers and bag straps. Familiar with this crowd, Elizabeth knew that they wouldn't think twice about bowling her and Ronon over. She moved to the side of the path, flattening herself against the bole of a tree that had been planted back when the development was new. When Ronon didn't look like he was going to move out of the way, she reached out, snagged his jacket and hauled him out of the way.
The good thing was that she managed to get him out of the way in time before the kids pelted through.
The bad thing was that she found herself in really close proximity to a guy who was seriously built. And smelled male. Really male.
Wow.
Ronon frowned at her. "They would have moved."
Boys! "No," she said. "They'd have run you over."
She'd never seen a guy bare his teeth before, but, when Ronon Dex did, she could imagine that he really was part-wild like the rumours said. "They'd have tried."
"You're not that much muscle," she told him shortly. "That much ego, yes."
The only sign of his annoyance was the way his eyes narrowed, but when he spoke it was with the note of amusement she was rapidly becoming used to from him. "Do you always make judgement calls on people you don't know?"
Oh, this was great. Not that Elizabeth was a helpless heroine, but if she'd had to be saved by someone, couldn't it have been someone...reasonable? Even John would have been better than this. Possibly.
She ignored him and kept walking. After a moment he followed.
Elizabeth was grateful for the help in getting rid of Kolya, but the tailing? Not so much. "Why are you doing this?"
"What?"
"Following me around?"
"I'm seeing you home," he said. If there was a more reasonable tone with which he could annoy her, Elizabeth couldn't imagine it.
"You don't live in this area anyway."
"Nope."
"So what were you doing here in the first place?"
"Following you?"
She turned, caught his grin and just glared. The boy had a talent for getting her flustered - even John's glib cockiness had a different tenor to this. She could tell when John was trying to get her goat, Ronon seemed to have the ability to confound her without even trying.
She really wasn't usually like this with guys.
Then again, she didn't usually hang around with guys like Ronon Dex.
"How are you finding the school?"
"It's fine."
"Not much like your old school?" Not that anyone knew anything about his old school. Not that anyone knew all that much about Ronon Dex.
"Not really."
It was like getting a conversation out of Rodney when he was working on one of his projects. Worse, actually. At least you could get conversation out of Rodney that was related to the project in question, although anything else would be forgotten, dismissed, or only recalled three hours later with a, "What do you mean you're four months pregnant?"
Of course, since he'd blurted that out in front of his mom and sister, Elizabeth had been required to do some very fast explaining before Jeannie got on the phone and told all her college friends that her little brother had knocked up the girl across the road.
And she'd only said it to see if he was listening, anyway.
Ronon, on the other hand, was definitely listening. He just wasn't...interfacing.
And Elizabeth was getting tired of it. "Are you going to actually talk to me, or just grunt?"
He gave a shout of laughter, deep and exultant. "I used words," he protested.
"Not a lot of them."
"Not enough for you?"
"You could at least talk to me!"
"Walking you home is one thing, carrying on a conversation is another." But he was still laughing at her, and Elizabeth stormed past the last two houses without so much as a word.
The garage door was shut which meant her mom wasn't home. Just as well. Elizabeth didn't want to explain why this strange guy was walking her home to her mother, who was a barrister with one of the town's major law firms and cross-examined her daughter in exactly the same manner that she did witnesses. God only knew what she'd make of Ronon.
At the door, her conscience reminded her about being polite and she made a face at the glass pane and shoved her key in the lock. Then she turned and was surprised to find him waiting by the letterbox, taking in the house and garden with some wariness.
So he wasn't coming in, then? Well, that was one less thing to worry about. "Thanks for the help."
He glanced up at her. "You're welcome." His smile was quiet and warm and gave her a similarly quiet and warm feeling in her stomach. For all his teasing on the way home, Elizabeth got the feeling he had depths that nobody at Shermer had seen.
A guy that helped out a girl he didn't even know, then walked her home and didn't expect to be invited in?
Definitely depths.
It was a change from the guys she was used to, most of whom were about as subtle as sledgehammers on her grandmother's bone china. Even if he wasn't quite presentable. The phrase 'scruffy-looking' came to mind.
It was weird that Elizabeth felt oddly shy as she searched for something else to say - something to finish the conversation.
"I'll see you tomorrow?" Not that they were going to hang out or anything, she was just being polite.
Ronon shrugged, his jacket making a soft huffing noise. "It's school," he said. Then he winked once and strode off the way he'd come, his hands back in his pockets.
Elizabeth watched him go.
--
Part Three