Elizabeth Adams had so far not been enjoying her first week of college. Everyone in her dorm seemed to take the whole freedom to do whatever they wanted thing far too seriously. For her, it wasn't anything new. He parents had died when she was 12 and she had been sent to boarding school shortly after. She basically had the freedom to do whatever she wanted since then. She had let loose a lot her final years of boarding school and so by now all the partying and drinking just wasn't as interesting. She wanted to have fun, obviously, but she also didn't want to spend every night drinking until she dropped. Her classes seemed all right so far but what she was really looking forward to was her Thursday night class, it was an upper division theology course entitled 'Women, Gender and Religion' and it actually sounded interesting. Her credits from Houghton Hall had allowed her to sign up for quite a few upper division courses but this one seemed like the most intriguing. She made her way from the library across campus to her class. It was in a small classroom for only about thirty students max and when she walked into the room the chairs were arranged in a circle and there were a couple people already sitting there. She found a seat and waited until the rest of the students steadily filed inside. She watched quietly from her seat and at the same time glanced over her book. A handsome man entered the room, distracting her, and she followed him with her eyes while trying not to look like she was staring. He looked about six foot tall with short hair and beautiful eyes. He looked a few years older than her but that was to be expected, she was probably the only freshman in this class anyway. She tried not to smile to herself when he sat down next to her and she just kept pretending to skim over her text and attempted to look casual. After a minute the professor walked into the classroom, introduced herself, and began the class. Elizabeth liked that aspect of the upper division courses. Most of them didn't have a silly day where you went over the syllabus and introduced yourself; you just got straight to the learning.
The class only met once a week for almost three hours so there was a lot to get through in one night. The professor got into the first chapter and before she posed her first question to the class she pointed to the man sitting next to Elizabeth. "Class, this is Henry McCord. He's your TA for the semester and he's excellent at facilitating conversation so I'm going to be letting him lead most of your discussions."
Elizabeth was a little surprised, so he was more than a junior or senior. His name was Henry and he was a grad student—and her TA. She sighed, that made him completely off limits.
Henry started to speak, he had a lovely voice, something about it was soothing and calm but at the same time full of passion for the subject. She found religion interesting enough but she would be happy to listen to him talk about it for hours on end. He was insightful too. Every time someone spoke or posed a question he seemed to have the perfect response.
At the end of class as everyone was filing out the professor stopped her before she could leave. "Elizabeth Adams, correct?"
She felt herself tense up, feeling a little nervous. She nodded, "Yes."
Professor Maxwell smiled, "I just wanted to take a minute to introduce myself since you're a freshman. Everyone else here knows me already as they're upper classmen. I just wanted to let you know that I encourage students to use my office hours. You seem like a smart girl and I don't anticipate you having any problems but I just wanted you to know that my door, and Henry's door for that matter, are always open."
Elizabeth smiled and her body relaxed, "Thank you, I appreciate that." She smiled at professor Maxwell and before she left the classroom she stole a glance at Henry.
To her great pleasure a minute after she started walking down the hall she heard her name being called behind her. She turned around to see Henry, "Elizabeth, sorry I wanted to officially introduce myself. I'm Henry McCord and like Professor Maxwell said, I'm happy to help in any way."
Elizabeth smiled and shook his hand, "It's nice to meet you Henry McCord."
He smiled at her, god he had a beautiful smile, "You too and really, if you have any questions at all please come to my office hours. I'd love to help."
She blushed a little and nodded, "Thank you."
"I should get going. Have a good night."
Elizabeth smiled and she watched him walk away.
Henry walked away from Elizabeth and he hated that he couldn't stop smiling. Elizabeth Adams was the prettiest girl he'd ever seen. He sighed to himself; he could not ask her out. She was only 18 and he was a 23-year-old grad student. It wasn't the age though, five years was nothing; it was the fact that he was her TA and he definitely couldn't violate that relationship.
One month passed by quickly and Elizabeth was adjusting easily. It felt right to be at UVA. Not only was she making friends and enjoying her classes but she also felt closer to her parents. They had always spoken about this place with such reverence and she was starting to understand why and she felt connected to them in a way she hadn't before. She could have gone to school anywhere she wanted with her record, but UVA was the right choice for her, she knew it in her soul.
She had gone on a couple dates. They had been fine but had ended up being just friendships and she was okay with that. The only guy here who had really caught her eye anyway was Henry. She sighed, her class with him Thursday night was the highlight of her week and she actually looked forward to tests because of the study sessions he held. She was trying to be cool about her little crush, she prayed that's all it was, because she didn't want to complicate things or, god forbid, make them incredibly awkward if she pursued something and he didn't reciprocate. Lately she was finding it was getting harder and harder to only see him once or twice a week and she decided she was going to go to his office hours. She didn't need help in the class. It was interesting and she was a good student anyway, but any chance to talk to Henry was a good idea in her book.
Henry heard a knock on the door of his office and called out, "Come in", without even looking up. The door opened slowly and he finished what he was doing to focus on whoever was now in his office. His first glance was of long, tan legs that seemed to go on for miles. He quickly averted his gaze upward and couldn't help but smile at the stunning face of Elizabeth Adams.
He almost jumped out of his chair at the sight of her, "Elizabeth, hi, how are you?" He asked, walking around the desk and grabbing his bag out of the chair in front of his desk so she could sit down, not many students used his office hours unless there was a test coming up.
She smiled shyly and sat down, she was feeling a lot of nerves about this, "I'm doing well thanks, how are you?" She asked as she sat down.
"I'm great. Thanks. So what brings you to office hours?" He said, sitting down across from her. He felt like an idiot, he just couldn't stop smiling at her. She looked spectacular in a loose, dangerously short, button up dress with a peter pan collar, a plaid flannel tied around her thin waist, her golden blonde hair in a loose braid and white keds in pristine condition. She leaned down to grab something from her backpack and Henry took that opportunity to take a deep breath. He had to stop ogling her, it was inappropriate. Especially for him because was not the type of guy to be distracted by a woman's looks, though to be fair she was the most beautiful woman he had ever seen.
She pulled out her notebook and opened it to a long page of notes, "I was just wondering if you could expand on Augustine and his idea that desire is an obstacle regarding commitment to God."
Henry smiled, he was grateful for the opportunity to get into a theological discussion to distract him, even one about desire.
Elizabeth sat there, listening intently. She didn't really need help; she had just needed an excuse to see Henry. He was just so damn attractive. It was really unfair that he was her TA.
They talked for a while and Elizabeth was shocked to see that it was already getting dark. She didn't want to leave but she knew she had to get back to her dorm. UVA was safe but she still didn't want to be walking alone too late at night.
"Thanks for the help, I really appreciate it." She said as she gathered her things.
Henry smiled; he hated to see her go. As beautiful as she was to look at she was equally as wonderful to talk to. It was really unfair that a woman so brilliant was also so beautiful. He had no idea she was having the exact same thoughts regarding him.
He went to grab his own things and saw that it was dark out as well. He frowned, he didn't know where on campus her dorm was but he knew he didn't want her walking there alone. She grabbed for the door handle and he stopped her, "Wait, I'll walk you to your dorm."
Elizabeth was happy she was facing the door because she couldn't stop herself from smiling. She composed herself quickly and turned around, "No, I'll be fine. You don't have to walk me back."
"Too late, I'm ready. Let's go." Henry said, throwing his arms up in the air indicating there was nothing she could say that would make him leave her side.
She laughed; secretly thrilled he wasn't going to let her have her way about this, "Okay."
Their walk started out silently. It was a beautiful night for October, but since the sun was going down it was getting chilly. Elizabeth stopped for a minute and Henry followed suit. She looked at him apologetically, "Sorry, I just need to put my flannel on, it's a little chilly."
Henry smiled and grabbed her backpack from her as she took it off her shoulder. She smiled, grateful for his kind little gesture and then slid on her flannel.
Henry smiled as she pulled her braid out from under the shirt but managed to flip part of her collar up in the process. He reached forward and flattened it for her and paused for a minute, distracted by the fact that she was even prettier up close.
"Thanks," she practically whispered and they both just stood there for a moment more until Henry backed away and handed her back her backpack.
He needed to distract himself, quickly. "So where are you from?"
Elizabeth too was happy for the distraction, "Middleburg, originally. It's north, kind of around Reston."
Henry nodded; he knew the area even though he didn't think he'd heard the name of the town, "Small town?"
Elizabeth smiled, "Yeah, I grew up on a horse farm. What about you?"
Henry smiled, "I grew up in Pittsburgh, so pretty much as far from a horse farm as you can get."
Elizabeth laughed, "So did you go to UVA for undergrad as well?"
Henry nodded, "Yeah, I got a scholarship and did ROTC."
Elizabeth was surprised that after this much time she didn't know he was in the service, "What branch?"
"Marine Corps Air Wing. I finished my training at Miramar over the summer. I go to up to Quantico once a month for training until I go back to Miramar this summer and then I'll be up for my first deployment. I was just promoted to Lieutenant." Henry said.
Elizabeth smiled, god dammit, the fact that he was a Marine Corps pilot made him so much hotter and he was already the most attractive guy she had ever laid eyes on. "That's wonderful. Congratulations." She was pretty proud of herself for managing a coherent thought at this point.
"How did you end up at UVA?
"My parents' both went here."
"They must be very proud of you." He said smiling at her but his smile immediately fell when he noticed her pursing her lips. "Oh god, I said something wrong…"
Elizabeth couldn't help but laugh as he tried to backtrack, "No, you said everything right. It's just...they um, they died when I was 12." She didn't know why she was being so forthcoming with him; she normally just brushed off the questions when people asked about her parents. Her only friend at school who even knew about them was her roommate. But she felt comfortable with Henry; somehow she instinctively knew her trust in him wasn't misplaced.
Henry felt so bad for bringing this subject up, he knew even after six years it was probably still difficult to talk about. They were her parents for god's sake. "I'm so sorry, Elizabeth. I didn't intend to bring up such a painful subject."
She shook her head, "Don't apologize, how were you supposed to know? You were just being nice."
She was smiling at him and it was making him feel better, "Yeah, but I'm still sorry."
By this point they were at Elizabeth's dorm and she was honestly a little disappointed. She really wanted to keep talking to Henry. He was so easy to talk to and she felt so comfortable with him. "This is my dorm."
Henry sighed; he was disappointed as well, "Well, thanks for letting me walk you home."
Elizabeth was glad where they were standing was dimly lit and he couldn't see her blush profusely, "Thank you for walking me home and thank you for the help. I'll see you in class on Thursday."
Henry smiled, "Goodnight, Elizabeth."
She turned and walked into her dorm; not knowing whether she wanted to jump up and down because the cutest guy in the world had walked her home or if she wanted to cry because he was her TA and that was as far as it could go with them. She walked into her room and immediately her roommate started chatting about their upcoming persuasive speeches in speech class but she wasn't paying attention, all she could think about was trying to find a way to see Henry before class on Thursday. Three whole days without seeing him seemed like torture.
Little did she know that as Henry had watched her walk away from him and into her dorm room he had been thinking the exact same thing.
This thing has been sitting on my computer for MONTHS. I keep adding to it and nitpicking but I could never get up the nerve to post it. WELL, I had an extremely stressful week followed by something wonderful happening that gave me sort of boosted confidence. I'm still not 100% sure about the style so let me know what you think works about this and what doesn't.
I have so much crap to do: a speech to finish, e-mails to reply to, stories on here to read, and so much more! Plus I'm leaving on Wednesday for a work trip. Everything is hectic! But I'll try to get chapter 2 up at some point. I may stop avoiding tumblr once I watch tonight's episode (my sister says it was awesome) and maybe it will help me sort out the fic I've been attempting to write about Henry and his feelings and justifications for how he's acting (got a chance to talk to the Marines I love about it and that was incredibly helpful) but maybe I won't need to write it, depending on how tonight's episode goes!
ANYWAY, sorry I'm rambling! I hope you enjoy this! PLEASE let me know what you think?! I'm still a bit self-conscious about this so I need some validation (wink wink) haha. But THANK YOU for reading!
P.S. This is my first story not named after a song! It came from a quote from an underrated novel by one of my favorite authors . Any guesses?!