fic: Wrong Kind Of Guy - Part Eleven, PG-13
TITLE: Wrong Kind Of Guy - Part Eleven
AUTHOR: Tielan
SUMMARY: Four words and her signature. We need to talk. Elizabeth.
CATEGORY: crackfic, shermer_high AU
RATING: PG-13
NOTES: One more chapter to go! The saga is nearly finished!
Part Ten
Wrong Kind Of Guy - Part Eleven
"I still don't know what he did!" Elizabeth hardly saw the books she was yanking out of her locker, her thoughts chasing after each other like so many mice in a maze.
At the locker beside her, Teyla was more sedately switching books. She paused with her hand on the edge of the locker. "Have you considered that it does not matter if you know what Ronon did, only that he did it?"
Elizabeth glared at the other girl. "You sound like John," she accused.
Teyla shrugged, unbothered. "Ronon did not wish you to know what he had to do to stop Kolya from coming after you. However, he made the offer himself."
"That doesn't mean he couldn't have rethought it."
Dark eyes glanced sideways at her. "I do not believe Ronon Dex would ever second-guess his choices."
"Lucky you," Elizabeth snapped without thinking. As abruptly as it had come, the anger left her, and she reached out to touch Teyla's shoulder. "I'm sorry, Teyla. I didn't mean--"
"Yes, you did," Teyla said.
Taken aback by Teyla's words, Elizabeth stared. The other girl seemed a little resigned and a little tense herself. "Elizabeth, I do not pretend to know what Ronon has done to gain this respite. But I know that whatever he did, he considered it worth your safety."
Teyla was trying to be reassuring. Elizabeth recognised that. But other fears lay beneath the surface of her concern. "He might have considered it worth it then," she muttered, looking back at her locker. "That doesn't mean--" Her voice caught and her throat closed. "He doesn't even want to speak to me," she managed.
It was the other girl's turn to reach out to her, this time a hug that surprised Elizabeth - Teyla didn't do casual hugs like other girls. "You do not know that," her friend said firmly. "There are other explanations for his reluctance to see you."
Elizabeth pulled back so she could see the other girl's face. "Such as?"
Teyla's expression turned rueful. "I do not know."
She stared. "You don't know?"
"No," Teyla said calmly. "But Ronon does. And I am sure he will give you his answer when he can." She opened her locker, giving it a cursory inspection to see if she'd missed anything, then closed it again.
This was going around in circles. "Sure. If he ever talks to me again!"
"He will." If it was meant as reassurance, it didn't reassure Elizabeth.
What was it with the people around her being so damned sure of themselves, anyway? First John, now Teyla. Next thing, she'd have Rodney assuring her that Ronon was perfectly safe and there was nothing for her to worry about. Of course, if that happened, then she'd have to call SETI and announce that there were pod people on Earth, because Rodney was definitely no 'Mr. Positive.'
"Teyla!" The yell came from down the corridor. "Hurry up!"
Teyla turned to Elizabeth and rolled her eyes as John jogged up. "Am I not permitted to get my books from my locker?"
"Not if it means you're late to practice," John retorted as Teyla swung her bag onto her shoulder. "Liz, Rodney's going to be another half-hour, then he's catching a lift home with Zelenka. Go with them if you're not going to wait for practice to finish, okay?"
"Okay." Elizabeth looked at Teyla. "I'll call you later."
"After nine."
"God save me from girl talk," John grumbled as he grabbed Teyla's wrist and began dragging her away.
"John! I am not a child to be led by the hand!"
He didn't let go of her wrist, continuing to tow her away. "Yeah, whatever. Hurry up!"
Their bickering faded off into the corridors, and Elizabeth grinned to herself, then sighed as she closed her locker and picked up her bag.
She'd been hoping that Rodney would go home on time for once. Waiting around for another half-hour, then listening to Rodney and Radek exchange everything from ideas to insults on the drive home had not been in her plans for the day. While their banter could be entertaining at times, most of the time it grated on her nerves.
Maybe she could just walk home? Even with the clashes between Kolya and whoever Ronon had set on him, maybe she could risk it? It wasn't as though she could bump into Kolya and his goons every time she walked down that lane.
Elizabeth was nearly at the school gate before she realised Ronon was leaning against the fence waiting for her, legs crossed at the ankle, arms folded across his chest. Beneath one of his elbows peeked a slip of paper - her note from the morning.
He held it out to her as she stopped in front of him. Four words and her signature. We need to talk. Elizabeth.
"So talk," he said, and his expression seemed carefully neutral as she studied him.
"What did you do?" The words burst from her, a tide undammed.
His face closed up and he looked away. "What I had to."
"Which is what exactly?"
Broad shoulders lifted and fell. "Stuff you don't need to know about."
"And we're back to square one," she muttered. Shouldering her pack she started off down the street, then realised he wasn't following her. "Are you coming or not?"
Ronon fell into step beside her without a word, fixing his eyes on the ground and barely looking where they were going. Elizabeth found his docility almost more frightening than Kolya's attacks. "Ronon?"
"Elizabeth." So calm and courteous, but without any affection or friendliness at all. Even his teasing that first afternoon had been playful in a wry kind of way.
"What's wrong?"
His mouth twisted a little. "Nothing."
Like hell. Elizabeth let the silence sit until they got to the park. She had to talk about something, walking the whole way home in silence would kill her. "Ronon, about Friday night--"
He interrupted her. "If you want to go with someone else to the Founder's Dance, it's okay. I understand." Something like a smile flickered across his face, but there was a bitter twist to it that he couldn't quite hide.
Elizabeth stopped and stared. "I don't want-- What are you talking about?"
Ronon stared at her for a long moment, then reached out to brush at her bruised cheek. "That. And the distraction for Kolya."
"What?" She was completely confused. "Why would I want to go with someone else because I got a bruise? And you did...whatever you did to stop Kolya from bothering me. What's that got to do with anything?"
He frowned, a hint of colour infusing the tan of his cheeks. "So what were you going to say?"
Some kids skipped towards them on their way to the play equipment. Elizabeth stepped off the path into the grass so they could bound past with all the energy of the very young. "I was going to ask why you've been shutting me out."
Ronon followed her off into the grass, scuffing at the dying remains of a dandelion by his right trainer. "Did you know that 'Bess' is a short form of 'Elizabeth'?"
Her eyes narrowed. That damned poem. Now, at least, she had an inkling of where his thoughts were tending - even if they were completely wrong. "Yes. But I'm not a landlord's daughter and you're not a highwayman."
He glanced up, held her gaze, dark eyes opaque and reserved. "Kolya targeted you because of Sheppard." The words were quiet and Elizabeth had no trouble making the connection.
"You think these others - the ones you contacted who hate Kolya - you think they'd harass me as well?"
Ronon shrugged. "I couldn't be sure."
"And that's why you've been ignoring me?" Anger flamed in her, a brief spark of frustration that tightened her hands into fists. "I don't care about that!"
"You didn't like being Kolya's bait for Sheppard," he said, a grim note to his voice.
"Because he got it all wrong about me and John!" The words were out of her mouth before she realised what she was implying. If she minded being Kolya's bait for John, but didn't mind being someone else's bait for Ronon, didn't that signify a big difference in her relationships with them?
Elizabeth put the thought aside for the moment.
"I... About the Founder's Dance?" She waited for his nod, keeping her eyes on his face to gauge his response. "Do you want to go with me?"
"Do I want--?" His expression was incredulous. "I asked you."
"But that..." Elizabeth waved one hand through the air. "That was weeks ago. You might have changed your mind after this week."
"This week?"
She took a deep breath. "The gang thing. That's to do with you, isn't it?"
Ronon hesitated, looked away; Elizabeth followed his gaze down to hands that were pleating the note into nervous folds. "Yes."
"And you didn't want to do it."
"I did it to get Kolya off your back." Something flickered across his face. "You don't have to go out with me to be grateful--"
"Will you get over this idea that I don't want you!" The words came out much louder than Elizabeth had planned, and she saw the children at the playsets turn towards them at her pronouncement. The flush heated her face, neck, and ears, and she was horribly conscious that Ronon was looking at her.
This was so uncool it wasn't funny.
She dared a peek up at him, and found that he wasn't just looking at her; he was smiling with the kind of wry amusement she hadn't seen on his face since Friday night.
It didn't ease her embarrassment, but it lifted her spirits.
The slight pink tinge to his tanned skin helped as well - he was embarrassed, too. "So...we're still on for the dance?"
"Yes."
The smile tilted to one side. "Cool."
It was impossible not to smile in response to that, and Elizabeth felt her mouth curve and glanced away, flushing. She couldn't believe she'd said that to him!
A moment later, his hand slipped into hers, and he began leading her across the grass to an empty swingset. She waited until he tugged at her hand before following him. "Where are we going?"
Ronon glanced back at her, mischief in his eyes. "We're going for a swing."
"A swing?"
"Yep."
Elizabeth rolled her eyes, but allowed herself to be led. His fingers were warm and firm against hers, and she liked the contact. "A swing?"
"Uhuh." Ronon dumped his knapsack in the grass by the swing and began easing Elizabeth's bag off her shoulders. There was a delicious moment when she glanced up at him and wondered what it would feel like to have him ease her shirt off her shoulders, fingers sliding against skin. She squashed it before that thought got too far, although her cheeks heated at the thought.
Then again, once she was sitting on his lap - or balancing, rather - it wasn't that difficult for her imagination to wander around the idea. His face was close enough to kiss, and if he wasn't staring at her mouth, he wasn't keeping his eyes off her face - or his arm off her waist - either. Then again, she had her arm around his shoulders, while the other hand held the swing chain.
Elizabeth was reminded of them sitting in the car on Friday night, ensconced on his lap as they headed back to her place, and the way he'd watched her then.
Now, like then, he brushed a finger across her cheek and the bruise. "Does it hurt?"
"Only when I press it or bump it." She hesitated. He still hadn't answered all the questions she had, and they couldn't stare into each other's eyes all the time... "I thought you'd resent me for having to set the other gang on Kolya."
"Why?"
"I just... I don't know." He arched an eyebrow at her and she shrugged and rested her elbow on his shoulder. "Why did you think I wanted to go with someone else?"
"The note. And...other things." Ronon looked uncomfortable for a moment, then shrugged and gazed into her face. "I'm not your usual kind of guy."
Her eyes narrowed. "I have a usual kind of guy?"
His mouth quirked. "Sheppard?"
"We're friends." And she suspected they'd be so much better that way.
"McKay?"
Her mouth quirked. "Friends."
"I heard Radek Zelenka has a crush on you."
Elizabeth flushed. "I know." She liked Radek, but his enthusiasm could often be personally directed, where Rodney's was just an automatic need for someone to listen to him talk - and occasionally insult. She tried to be friendly without encouraging him.
"Ben Maroney? Peter Grodin? Carson Beckett?"
"They're all friends." She eyed him from close quarters - close enough to feel the heat of his skin against her cheek. "So are you."
Ronon grinned, and leaned in. "Just friends?"
If she leaned in a little further, their lips would touch. Instead, Elizabeth turned her head so her mouth was just beside his ear. "Mmm, maybe. You can convince me at the dance on Friday."
He threw back his head and laughed then, a belly-deep laugh that shook them both, trembled his dreadlocks, and unbalanced them on the swing.
Laughter turned into a yelp as their centres of gravity shifted, and they grabbed for the chains and wobbled for a moment. When they rebalanced, Elizabeth's nose was half-buried in his cheek, and her fingers were digging into his jacket shoulder.
And he smelled really nice, too.
"Okay," she said, remembering how to breathe again. "We might like to get off now."
Ronon's mouth curved in a smirk that she felt against her skin. "We might." Elizabeth glanced up at him to catch the twinkle in his eyes.
Realising what she'd said and how it could be interpreted, Elizabeth shook her head with a laugh. Her skin flushed again as she slipped off him and the swing and hauled up her bag. Ronon was a few seconds behind her, but she waited until he had his stuff. "I'd still like to know what you did."
"I'm not going to tell you," he said. And although he didn't sound angry, there was a hardness beneath his voice that warned her against pushing it.
Elizabeth hadn't expected anything else. "Okay. Ronon--" She hesitated. "I don't mind what you did. But you didn't have to shut me out."
"It was easier."
"Not for me."
Ronon looked at her. "I didn't want you to get hurt."
"I was more hurt when you didn't return my calls."
He kicked at the grass, for all the world like a kid getting a telling off. Finally, he looked up. "You're not my usual kind of girl, either."
Elizabeth stiffened. "What's that supposed to mean?"
"It means you're...different."
She couldn't quite keep the sarcasm from her voice. "That makes sense if I'm not your usual kind of girl."
Ronon looked like there were a lot of places he'd rather be right now, but he stood his ground. "I figured you wouldn't...mightn't want to be around me after Friday night. Because I'm not your usual kind of guy."
"Translation: you thought I'd run away because you were involved in a gang?"
"Not me. I have-- I had friends--" He broke off. "Yes."
Guys were stupid, Elizabeth decided. Cute, but stupid. But at least Ronon had been stupid because he thought he was being noble and self-sacrificing. It was sweet, in an overprotective kind of way. "I haven't run away yet."
"No," he said. After a moment, one corner of his mouth tilted a little. "You're still here."
"I'm still here." Greatly daring, she added, "And I'm not going to run away later, either."
Ronon Dex might not be her usual kind of guy - and would probably be considered entirely the wrong kind of guy for her by most of her classmates - but Elizabeth Weir was beyond caring. She liked him. And anyone who got in her way could go to hell.
Thankfully, she didn't blurt this out to him. Because that would have been even more embarrassing than anything else she'd said today.
Instead, she waited for his response with a teensy bit of apprehension.
He studied her face for a little while, then smiled. It grew from a curve of the mouth to a wolfish grin. "Glad to hear it." His hands rested lightly on his hips as he asked, "So...anything else you want to tell me off about?"
"Well, you haven't kissed me yet."
Elizabeth didn't know where that had come from. She hadn't even been planning to kiss him! And they weren't going out. Well, not quite, anyway.
Ronon looked surprised. Then the smirk came back, affectionate and admiring. "You're full of surprises, Weir."
He made no move to kiss her though, which both relieved and annoyed her - and then annoyed her further that she was annoyed he hadn't tried. Liking or not, it gave her an edge as she retorted, "And you haven't seen half of them yet, Dex. "
Ronon laughed at that, and held out one hand.
After a moment, Elizabeth smiled back at him and she slipped her fingers into his, allowing herself to be pulled along, even jostling him as they crossed the park. And Ronon jostled her right back, firmly in control of the tussle as he caught her around the waist, pulling her into his side.
"My name," he informed her, still smiling, "is Ronon."
Elizabeth laughed.
- TBC -
Part Twelve
AUTHOR: Tielan
SUMMARY: Four words and her signature. We need to talk. Elizabeth.
CATEGORY: crackfic, shermer_high AU
RATING: PG-13
NOTES: One more chapter to go! The saga is nearly finished!
Part Ten
Wrong Kind Of Guy - Part Eleven
"I still don't know what he did!" Elizabeth hardly saw the books she was yanking out of her locker, her thoughts chasing after each other like so many mice in a maze.
At the locker beside her, Teyla was more sedately switching books. She paused with her hand on the edge of the locker. "Have you considered that it does not matter if you know what Ronon did, only that he did it?"
Elizabeth glared at the other girl. "You sound like John," she accused.
Teyla shrugged, unbothered. "Ronon did not wish you to know what he had to do to stop Kolya from coming after you. However, he made the offer himself."
"That doesn't mean he couldn't have rethought it."
Dark eyes glanced sideways at her. "I do not believe Ronon Dex would ever second-guess his choices."
"Lucky you," Elizabeth snapped without thinking. As abruptly as it had come, the anger left her, and she reached out to touch Teyla's shoulder. "I'm sorry, Teyla. I didn't mean--"
"Yes, you did," Teyla said.
Taken aback by Teyla's words, Elizabeth stared. The other girl seemed a little resigned and a little tense herself. "Elizabeth, I do not pretend to know what Ronon has done to gain this respite. But I know that whatever he did, he considered it worth your safety."
Teyla was trying to be reassuring. Elizabeth recognised that. But other fears lay beneath the surface of her concern. "He might have considered it worth it then," she muttered, looking back at her locker. "That doesn't mean--" Her voice caught and her throat closed. "He doesn't even want to speak to me," she managed.
It was the other girl's turn to reach out to her, this time a hug that surprised Elizabeth - Teyla didn't do casual hugs like other girls. "You do not know that," her friend said firmly. "There are other explanations for his reluctance to see you."
Elizabeth pulled back so she could see the other girl's face. "Such as?"
Teyla's expression turned rueful. "I do not know."
She stared. "You don't know?"
"No," Teyla said calmly. "But Ronon does. And I am sure he will give you his answer when he can." She opened her locker, giving it a cursory inspection to see if she'd missed anything, then closed it again.
This was going around in circles. "Sure. If he ever talks to me again!"
"He will." If it was meant as reassurance, it didn't reassure Elizabeth.
What was it with the people around her being so damned sure of themselves, anyway? First John, now Teyla. Next thing, she'd have Rodney assuring her that Ronon was perfectly safe and there was nothing for her to worry about. Of course, if that happened, then she'd have to call SETI and announce that there were pod people on Earth, because Rodney was definitely no 'Mr. Positive.'
"Teyla!" The yell came from down the corridor. "Hurry up!"
Teyla turned to Elizabeth and rolled her eyes as John jogged up. "Am I not permitted to get my books from my locker?"
"Not if it means you're late to practice," John retorted as Teyla swung her bag onto her shoulder. "Liz, Rodney's going to be another half-hour, then he's catching a lift home with Zelenka. Go with them if you're not going to wait for practice to finish, okay?"
"Okay." Elizabeth looked at Teyla. "I'll call you later."
"After nine."
"God save me from girl talk," John grumbled as he grabbed Teyla's wrist and began dragging her away.
"John! I am not a child to be led by the hand!"
He didn't let go of her wrist, continuing to tow her away. "Yeah, whatever. Hurry up!"
Their bickering faded off into the corridors, and Elizabeth grinned to herself, then sighed as she closed her locker and picked up her bag.
She'd been hoping that Rodney would go home on time for once. Waiting around for another half-hour, then listening to Rodney and Radek exchange everything from ideas to insults on the drive home had not been in her plans for the day. While their banter could be entertaining at times, most of the time it grated on her nerves.
Maybe she could just walk home? Even with the clashes between Kolya and whoever Ronon had set on him, maybe she could risk it? It wasn't as though she could bump into Kolya and his goons every time she walked down that lane.
Elizabeth was nearly at the school gate before she realised Ronon was leaning against the fence waiting for her, legs crossed at the ankle, arms folded across his chest. Beneath one of his elbows peeked a slip of paper - her note from the morning.
He held it out to her as she stopped in front of him. Four words and her signature. We need to talk. Elizabeth.
"So talk," he said, and his expression seemed carefully neutral as she studied him.
"What did you do?" The words burst from her, a tide undammed.
His face closed up and he looked away. "What I had to."
"Which is what exactly?"
Broad shoulders lifted and fell. "Stuff you don't need to know about."
"And we're back to square one," she muttered. Shouldering her pack she started off down the street, then realised he wasn't following her. "Are you coming or not?"
Ronon fell into step beside her without a word, fixing his eyes on the ground and barely looking where they were going. Elizabeth found his docility almost more frightening than Kolya's attacks. "Ronon?"
"Elizabeth." So calm and courteous, but without any affection or friendliness at all. Even his teasing that first afternoon had been playful in a wry kind of way.
"What's wrong?"
His mouth twisted a little. "Nothing."
Like hell. Elizabeth let the silence sit until they got to the park. She had to talk about something, walking the whole way home in silence would kill her. "Ronon, about Friday night--"
He interrupted her. "If you want to go with someone else to the Founder's Dance, it's okay. I understand." Something like a smile flickered across his face, but there was a bitter twist to it that he couldn't quite hide.
Elizabeth stopped and stared. "I don't want-- What are you talking about?"
Ronon stared at her for a long moment, then reached out to brush at her bruised cheek. "That. And the distraction for Kolya."
"What?" She was completely confused. "Why would I want to go with someone else because I got a bruise? And you did...whatever you did to stop Kolya from bothering me. What's that got to do with anything?"
He frowned, a hint of colour infusing the tan of his cheeks. "So what were you going to say?"
Some kids skipped towards them on their way to the play equipment. Elizabeth stepped off the path into the grass so they could bound past with all the energy of the very young. "I was going to ask why you've been shutting me out."
Ronon followed her off into the grass, scuffing at the dying remains of a dandelion by his right trainer. "Did you know that 'Bess' is a short form of 'Elizabeth'?"
Her eyes narrowed. That damned poem. Now, at least, she had an inkling of where his thoughts were tending - even if they were completely wrong. "Yes. But I'm not a landlord's daughter and you're not a highwayman."
He glanced up, held her gaze, dark eyes opaque and reserved. "Kolya targeted you because of Sheppard." The words were quiet and Elizabeth had no trouble making the connection.
"You think these others - the ones you contacted who hate Kolya - you think they'd harass me as well?"
Ronon shrugged. "I couldn't be sure."
"And that's why you've been ignoring me?" Anger flamed in her, a brief spark of frustration that tightened her hands into fists. "I don't care about that!"
"You didn't like being Kolya's bait for Sheppard," he said, a grim note to his voice.
"Because he got it all wrong about me and John!" The words were out of her mouth before she realised what she was implying. If she minded being Kolya's bait for John, but didn't mind being someone else's bait for Ronon, didn't that signify a big difference in her relationships with them?
Elizabeth put the thought aside for the moment.
"I... About the Founder's Dance?" She waited for his nod, keeping her eyes on his face to gauge his response. "Do you want to go with me?"
"Do I want--?" His expression was incredulous. "I asked you."
"But that..." Elizabeth waved one hand through the air. "That was weeks ago. You might have changed your mind after this week."
"This week?"
She took a deep breath. "The gang thing. That's to do with you, isn't it?"
Ronon hesitated, looked away; Elizabeth followed his gaze down to hands that were pleating the note into nervous folds. "Yes."
"And you didn't want to do it."
"I did it to get Kolya off your back." Something flickered across his face. "You don't have to go out with me to be grateful--"
"Will you get over this idea that I don't want you!" The words came out much louder than Elizabeth had planned, and she saw the children at the playsets turn towards them at her pronouncement. The flush heated her face, neck, and ears, and she was horribly conscious that Ronon was looking at her.
This was so uncool it wasn't funny.
She dared a peek up at him, and found that he wasn't just looking at her; he was smiling with the kind of wry amusement she hadn't seen on his face since Friday night.
It didn't ease her embarrassment, but it lifted her spirits.
The slight pink tinge to his tanned skin helped as well - he was embarrassed, too. "So...we're still on for the dance?"
"Yes."
The smile tilted to one side. "Cool."
It was impossible not to smile in response to that, and Elizabeth felt her mouth curve and glanced away, flushing. She couldn't believe she'd said that to him!
A moment later, his hand slipped into hers, and he began leading her across the grass to an empty swingset. She waited until he tugged at her hand before following him. "Where are we going?"
Ronon glanced back at her, mischief in his eyes. "We're going for a swing."
"A swing?"
"Yep."
Elizabeth rolled her eyes, but allowed herself to be led. His fingers were warm and firm against hers, and she liked the contact. "A swing?"
"Uhuh." Ronon dumped his knapsack in the grass by the swing and began easing Elizabeth's bag off her shoulders. There was a delicious moment when she glanced up at him and wondered what it would feel like to have him ease her shirt off her shoulders, fingers sliding against skin. She squashed it before that thought got too far, although her cheeks heated at the thought.
Then again, once she was sitting on his lap - or balancing, rather - it wasn't that difficult for her imagination to wander around the idea. His face was close enough to kiss, and if he wasn't staring at her mouth, he wasn't keeping his eyes off her face - or his arm off her waist - either. Then again, she had her arm around his shoulders, while the other hand held the swing chain.
Elizabeth was reminded of them sitting in the car on Friday night, ensconced on his lap as they headed back to her place, and the way he'd watched her then.
Now, like then, he brushed a finger across her cheek and the bruise. "Does it hurt?"
"Only when I press it or bump it." She hesitated. He still hadn't answered all the questions she had, and they couldn't stare into each other's eyes all the time... "I thought you'd resent me for having to set the other gang on Kolya."
"Why?"
"I just... I don't know." He arched an eyebrow at her and she shrugged and rested her elbow on his shoulder. "Why did you think I wanted to go with someone else?"
"The note. And...other things." Ronon looked uncomfortable for a moment, then shrugged and gazed into her face. "I'm not your usual kind of guy."
Her eyes narrowed. "I have a usual kind of guy?"
His mouth quirked. "Sheppard?"
"We're friends." And she suspected they'd be so much better that way.
"McKay?"
Her mouth quirked. "Friends."
"I heard Radek Zelenka has a crush on you."
Elizabeth flushed. "I know." She liked Radek, but his enthusiasm could often be personally directed, where Rodney's was just an automatic need for someone to listen to him talk - and occasionally insult. She tried to be friendly without encouraging him.
"Ben Maroney? Peter Grodin? Carson Beckett?"
"They're all friends." She eyed him from close quarters - close enough to feel the heat of his skin against her cheek. "So are you."
Ronon grinned, and leaned in. "Just friends?"
If she leaned in a little further, their lips would touch. Instead, Elizabeth turned her head so her mouth was just beside his ear. "Mmm, maybe. You can convince me at the dance on Friday."
He threw back his head and laughed then, a belly-deep laugh that shook them both, trembled his dreadlocks, and unbalanced them on the swing.
Laughter turned into a yelp as their centres of gravity shifted, and they grabbed for the chains and wobbled for a moment. When they rebalanced, Elizabeth's nose was half-buried in his cheek, and her fingers were digging into his jacket shoulder.
And he smelled really nice, too.
"Okay," she said, remembering how to breathe again. "We might like to get off now."
Ronon's mouth curved in a smirk that she felt against her skin. "We might." Elizabeth glanced up at him to catch the twinkle in his eyes.
Realising what she'd said and how it could be interpreted, Elizabeth shook her head with a laugh. Her skin flushed again as she slipped off him and the swing and hauled up her bag. Ronon was a few seconds behind her, but she waited until he had his stuff. "I'd still like to know what you did."
"I'm not going to tell you," he said. And although he didn't sound angry, there was a hardness beneath his voice that warned her against pushing it.
Elizabeth hadn't expected anything else. "Okay. Ronon--" She hesitated. "I don't mind what you did. But you didn't have to shut me out."
"It was easier."
"Not for me."
Ronon looked at her. "I didn't want you to get hurt."
"I was more hurt when you didn't return my calls."
He kicked at the grass, for all the world like a kid getting a telling off. Finally, he looked up. "You're not my usual kind of girl, either."
Elizabeth stiffened. "What's that supposed to mean?"
"It means you're...different."
She couldn't quite keep the sarcasm from her voice. "That makes sense if I'm not your usual kind of girl."
Ronon looked like there were a lot of places he'd rather be right now, but he stood his ground. "I figured you wouldn't...mightn't want to be around me after Friday night. Because I'm not your usual kind of guy."
"Translation: you thought I'd run away because you were involved in a gang?"
"Not me. I have-- I had friends--" He broke off. "Yes."
Guys were stupid, Elizabeth decided. Cute, but stupid. But at least Ronon had been stupid because he thought he was being noble and self-sacrificing. It was sweet, in an overprotective kind of way. "I haven't run away yet."
"No," he said. After a moment, one corner of his mouth tilted a little. "You're still here."
"I'm still here." Greatly daring, she added, "And I'm not going to run away later, either."
Ronon Dex might not be her usual kind of guy - and would probably be considered entirely the wrong kind of guy for her by most of her classmates - but Elizabeth Weir was beyond caring. She liked him. And anyone who got in her way could go to hell.
Thankfully, she didn't blurt this out to him. Because that would have been even more embarrassing than anything else she'd said today.
Instead, she waited for his response with a teensy bit of apprehension.
He studied her face for a little while, then smiled. It grew from a curve of the mouth to a wolfish grin. "Glad to hear it." His hands rested lightly on his hips as he asked, "So...anything else you want to tell me off about?"
"Well, you haven't kissed me yet."
Elizabeth didn't know where that had come from. She hadn't even been planning to kiss him! And they weren't going out. Well, not quite, anyway.
Ronon looked surprised. Then the smirk came back, affectionate and admiring. "You're full of surprises, Weir."
He made no move to kiss her though, which both relieved and annoyed her - and then annoyed her further that she was annoyed he hadn't tried. Liking or not, it gave her an edge as she retorted, "And you haven't seen half of them yet, Dex. "
Ronon laughed at that, and held out one hand.
After a moment, Elizabeth smiled back at him and she slipped her fingers into his, allowing herself to be pulled along, even jostling him as they crossed the park. And Ronon jostled her right back, firmly in control of the tussle as he caught her around the waist, pulling her into his side.
"My name," he informed her, still smiling, "is Ronon."
Elizabeth laughed.
- TBC -
Part Twelve