Author's note: One shot fic of Prom at Seattle Grace, take two. Reviews are always welcomed. ;)
Beta: The wonderful and talented Shli.
It had been a tough road for Izzie, stage four metastatic melanoma was difficult to fight; but she did it and was ready to take her place back in medicine – right alongside her friends. The Chief was ecstatic to have her back – so much that he offered her a welcome back present: anything she wanted. To his dismay she did not chose a surgery like he thought, instead she chose prom. It was prom season and seeing all the limos and the formally dressed teens brought back memories of her teenage years and how she never experienced one – and even when she did get a second chance her fiancé had died. So the bright and bubbly Isobel Stevens convinced the Chief to let her throw one. The selling point was her idea to have a small area where people could donate to cancer research; after all, last prom at SGH had been in honor of the Chief's niece, who passed away due to cancer soon after. For the second time Seattle Grace was going to throw a prom – a mandatory prom for all hospital staff to attend.
Izzie, being Izzie, wasted no time in spreading the news. She cheerfully skipped out of the Chief's office to find her friends. And to the least of her surprise, she found them hovering over the second floor coffee cart.
"Hey, guys guess what?" she asked with a huge smile plastered on her face.
"What?" Meredith asked before taking a sip of her coffee.
"You guys are going to be so excited!"
Cristina rolled her eyes. "Izzie, just tell us already. And can we please take the giddiness down notch – it's too early for that much happiness and excitement."
"We're going to have another prom!" She practically squealed out.
Meredith and Cristina gave each other looks that said "are you kidding me?"
Alex thought her brain had become stupid and corked again. George, on the other hand, simply inhaled deeply, – thinking, that's our Izzie. He knew her all too well: only she would choose something like prom as a welcome back present than a surgery of her choice.
"Why on earth are we a having prom? What a waste of time. I could be doing something more constructive with my night – like nothing." Cristina stated with her usual sarcasm.
"Come on Iz. Prom? Seriously? We have to get all dressed up like idiots again?" Alex was not feeling the prom idea at all.
George stayed quiet, pondering who to ask as his date.
Izzie placed her hands on her hips. "I cannot believe you guys. This is our chance to have the perfect prom. Remember how awful our last one was? Our lives are damn near perfect this time around. Let's try to have a perfect night. This is going to be fun! So cheer up and stop complaining!"
"Fine," they all said in unison. Izzie had made up her mind and none of them had the heart to change it.
"Okay great! I'm gonna go tell everyone else. Oh and Mer, Cristina you guys are going to help me plan it!" She cheerfully skipped away before Cristina could get a chance to protest.
Cristina threw her coffee in the trash. "Great."
"Oh come on, Cristina. It won't be that bad," Meredith said trying to cheer her up.
Cristina raised one eye brow. "Okay who are you and what have you done with my friend? Do you not remember all the crap she made us do for your wedding that you gave to her?"
Meredith laughed. "Izzie is right. Our last prom was awful. We're getting a redo. Now I can have sex with Derek at the prom without feeling McGuilty or being a dirty mistress. You have Owen now. Let's just try and enjoy ourselves – even with something as silly as Izzie's 'welcome back' prom."
Cristina shook her head. "Whatever you say."
Prom and Cristina Yang did not mix well. They had awful history together. As a teenager, her date tried to get both of them hammered and subsequently barfed on her dress. The last Seattle Grace prom turned out to be a complete and utter disaster with Burking recovering from a gunshot wound and Denny dying. Cristina could not understand why Izzie wanted to throw a prom when the last one had such awful memories attached to it; but she resigned herself to going along with it. When her thoughts shifted to Owen she thought it would be great to see him in a suit again.
When news of the prom reached Owen, he became excited. Like many of the doctors at Seattle he never experienced a prom either. Growing up, his father was in the military, meaning that when prom season rolled around, they had to relocate. He was thrilled at the chance of finally doing the time-honored tradition of asking a girl out to prom in some romantic way. As he made his way to the OR his thoughts went to Cristina; her in a stunning dress and them dancing the night away.
Through each cut and suture Owen went over all the possible ways to ask her. When he finished up the surgery he decided on the fortune cookie idea. He would buy her favorite Chinese takeout and place his question in a fortune cookie. Perfect he thought. With that notion in his mind, he watched the clock and eagerly waited for lunch to come around.
As promised, Cristina showed up to Izzie's prom meeting to share ideas on décor, food, and music. Meredith and Cristina did not know squat about prom decorations. And for them it didn't matter what food was served as long as it tasted good. As for the music, they could dance to just about anything. So, they ended up simply agreeing with every idea Izzie came up with, trying to get the meeting over as quickly as possible.
"Okay so that's that." Izzie said, closing an enormous binder. "Thanks for all the help," she added sarcastically.
Cristina got up and quickly put on her lab coat – she was starving and needed to eat something stat. "You're welcome. Now I'm gonna go to the place with the food. You coming Mer?"
"Yes," she answered almost jumping to her feet.
"Sheesh. Was it that bad?" Izzie asked, shaking her head.
"No, we're just hungry." Cristina lied.
Izzie laughed. "Yeah right. Anyways, there's one more thing. No black dresses for you two."
"What? Why not?" They asked together.
"Because, it's my prom and I say no black dresses. No dark and twisty." Izzie said firmly.
"Ugh, fine." Cristina agreed. "Now let's go, I'm starving."
"Wait," Izzie yelled. "Has anyone asked you guys to the prom yet?"
Cristina looked at Izzie quizzically. "Is that a serious question? Who else would we go with?"
Meredith chuckled. "I'm going with George, and Cristina is going with Ryan."
Owen stopped in his tracks before reaching the open door. Cristina already had a prom date? He knew they were not official yet, but they had made great progress. He was still in therapy, and the improvements were remarkable. He was becoming a better man for her, and she was going to prom with someone else. Just great Owen thought. He turned away from the conference room and angrily threw the Chinese takeout in the garbage.
"Who the hell is Ryan?" Cristina asked.
"Your intern. Ryan Spalding." Meredith giggled out.
Cristina's face turned to disgust. "Please do not make me hurl."
Meredith shook her head laughing. "Seriously Iz, I'm married. I'm going with Derek, that's a no brainer. And Cristina is going with Owen."
************
The next couple of days were hectic. Izzie had everyone helping out with setting up decorations, all in preparation for Friday night's prom. Owen avoided Cristina as much as possible. He could not handle the thought of another man having his arms wrapped around her. During their phone calls, he kept things short, responding with short simple answers or stating he was busy – little did he know Cristina was waiting for him to ask her to prom.
The next few days Cristina witnessed everyone else getting asked to prom. Derek had this cheesy set up with a Hershey's Kiss – placed one on the ground and said to Meredith, "Now that I've kissed the ground you walk on would you go to prom with me?" Cristina thought it was beyond corny, but at least he asked. Alex placed a fish bowl full of gold fish and one yellow fish in Izzie's locker with a note saying, "Of all the fish in the sea will you shake fins with me? Prom?" It was cliché but at least he took the time to steal the fish from the lobby aquarium and ask Izzie in a cute way. Heck, even George put effort in asking his date. He paged her to the pit, making her think there was a 9-1-1 emergency. Rather than meet the usual ambulance she found a chalk drawing of George in the asphalt with a note saying, "I'd die to go to prom with you, Dr. Bailey." It was so hilarious and cute that Bailey could do nothing more than say yes. Cristina waited and waited for Owen to ask but the question never came. She decided she would not attend, no matter how much trouble she would get in – she would not have a repeat of the last prom.
Friday approached and everyone was excited for the night's events – all except Cristina and Owen. They each stayed in their respective parts of the hospital: cardio and trauma. Cristina was just plain pissed that Owen did not ask her to the prom. She briefly wondered if he was going with another woman but then thought better of it. She knew he would do no such thing – if he knew what was good for him. She concluded that he was having a small setback in recovery and needed to be left alone. That alone was frustrating. What was more frustrating was that she cared about this stupid prom and having Owen as her date.
When Cristina's shift came to a close, she made sure she was the first in the locker room and the first to leave. She was not up to answering any questions about prom or being dateless. In what seemed to be seconds, she was unlocking the dead bolt to her apartment door. She immediately discarded her coat and bag on the floor, kicked off her shoes, and made her way to her bedroom. She flicked on the lights to see Owen standing by the nightstand. By the way she flinched, he guessed that he'd scared the living daylights out of her. He was dressed in a sleek black suit with a white crisp shirt and a crimson metallic red tie. His hands were occupied with a single red rose in one and a white shopping bag in the other.
Cristina attempted to speak but her words came out all wrong. "Wha-how-whe-who-"
Owen inhaled sharply. "Look, I don't know who Ryan Spalding is, and I don't care. I'm hoping you'll break your date with this guy because I want you, Cristina Yang, to be my date to my first real prom. I even bought you a dress."
Cristina's lips offered no response, and it made Owen nervous. She was so overwhelmed with happiness that she was rendered speechless.
After a few moments, words finally formulated in her head and came out of her mouth. "Where did you get the idea I was going out with Ryan Spalding? Who let you in here? And how do you know my dress size?"
Owen cleared his throat. "Well, the other day I was going to ask you to be my date but I overheard Meredith saying that you were going with Ryan Spalding. Who is that guy, anyways? And how I got in here, Callie let me in here when I told her I wanted to surprise you for prom. I also asked her for your dress size."
Cristina smiled. "You suck at eavesdropping. Ryan Spalding is 4.2. Meredith was just joking with Izzie. And I would love to be your date."
Owen raised one eye brow. "4.2 is Ryan Spalding?" He had to take a moment to laugh. Cristina had been calling her interns by numbers for so long that he fell into the routine right with her and completely forgot their names.
"Yeah. I just found that out myself the other day." Cristina admitted. "Now, I'm gonna get ready so we're not late."
Owen went to wait in the living room, taking a seat on her sofa and began flipping through the pages of a medical journal. Twenty minutes later the clicking sound of Cristina's heels made Owen stand to his feet. The sight he saw made his breath catch in his throat. He bought her a crimson red dress to match his tie. Her body filled it out well. She'd put on little make-up (Owen thought she looked gorgeous without make-up), and her thick black tendrils were left down to cascade down alongside her face and down her back.
The words "beautiful", "stunning", and "gorgeous" tried to make their way out of Owen's mouth but fell short.
Cristina smiled as he fumbled with his words. "Let's go before we're late." She took his hand and led him outside.
When they made their appearance at the prom, neither of them noticed the decorations or the other people – they only had eyes for each other. They wasted no time waltzing to the dance floor; and to Owen's delight, a slow song was playing – he was dying to have her body pressed against his. He took her hand in his and placed the other on the small of her back. Owen led and Cristina followed, swaying perfectly to the music. They danced as if they were the only couple on the floor. They got lost so deep in each other's eyes, it was as though everyone else had disappeared. The music even began to sound faint – as if someone had turned down the volume. The only sound that was loudly audible in their ears was their breathing. Owen was happy that he'd chosen the satin material for Cristina's dress.
After a few dances, Owen and Cristina reluctantly departed from the dance floor to commiserate with friends and enjoy a bite to eat. They laughed, ate, drank – non-alcoholic drinks to Cristina's dismay – and hit the dance floor once more. This time upbeat songs were booming from the speakers, and Owen surprised Cristina by dancing in complete rhythm. She had no idea he possessed such suave moves, but she liked it.
After dancing their final slow dance together, Cristina's feet were beginning to throb. They each decided to call it a night before her feet would refuse to take another step.
"I had a good time. Thank you for being my date. It was a great first prom for me." Owen said to Cristina as they walked down an empty corridor of the hospital.
"First prom, huh? You know the typical thing to do after prom is to get laid," she stated, stopping and leaning against a door to an exam room.
Owen grinned. "Really?"
Cristina reached out and grabbed Owen's tie, pulling him closer to her. "Yeah," she whispered.
She immediately turned the handle to the door and began walking backwards into the room, Owen followed to claim her lips. He kicked the door close with his foot and cupped Cristina's face in his hands to capture her lips. Their tongues immediately became entwined into a fervent kiss.
While Cristina discarded Owen's tie and jacket and began unbuttoning his shirt he took a brief moment to examine the room. He noticed stirrups – this room was for gynecologists' patients. The sight of the stirrups instantly put an idea in his mind. His hands traveled from Cristina's face, down the sides of her body, and stopped to cup her bottom. He lifted her effortlessly and placed her on the table. He placed the heels of her shoes in the small holes of the stirrups and hiked up her elongated dress to her waist. Cristina grinned and lay back resting on her elbows while Owen proceeded to remove her panties. Owen inched his mouth towards her to begin a night of complete ecstasy.
"Now that's what I call a perfect ending to a perfect night," Owen stated as he fixed a presentable tie.
"Agreed," Cristina said as she slid her lacey black panties up her legs.
There was no doubt that this was the best prom they had ever experienced.