Title: The woods, a date and all that jazz

Author: thousand_miles

Disclaimer: I don't own any of these characters.

Rating: K

Summary: Red takes Lizzie on a trip to go on a date

Spoilers: S1

A/N: This is me having fun with these characters. Nothing serious. I wrote this for my friend Sarah who wanted some fluff and deserves fluff. Reviews are appreciated. English isn't my native language so there might be grammar errors.

Chapter one

She was still recovering from it all. Red was always able to surprise her. He'd whisked her away. She didn't really know what he'd said to Cooper but apparently it was good enough to let Red take her on a road trip. Not that it really was a road trip. They'd taken his private jet. He hadn't even said where they were going. But that wasn't the biggest surprise even. No. Red had been somewhat nervous during the flight. Though he was good at hiding it, she knew him long enough now to know his tells. He'd admitted to her that there was no business they had to deal with. He wanted them to spend some time away from their usual surroundings. At first he didn't tell her why he wanted them to get away from it all. After some prodding he told her he wanted them to go out on a date.

She'd stared at him with her mouth open. She hadn't seen this coming. Sure they'd been growing closer of the last couple of months. There had been more touches, more glances, but that was it. He'd never let her on about his feelings. She thought she was more obvious about it, but his nerves told her otherwise. She was however happy they were going on a date. She felt ready for it. Ready to take the next step.

She was standing in the bedroom in Red's cabin where they would be spending their days. He hadn't told her how long they'd be staying here. He'd showed her her bedroom and told her to be ready in an hour. She hadn't prepared for a date when she'd packed her clothes, but Red was Red and of course he'd taken care of that. There were a couple of dresses in the closet and it was up to her to choose one. She wondered how long he'd planned this. She looked at the dresses. The summer dresses were knee length. Some were with shorts sleeves, others sleeveless. There was one dress with a floral print and though she didn't dislike it, it was the first one that she dismissed. There was also a red, purple and green dress. However the light blue chiffon dress at the end of the closet caught her eye. She liked the colour, the fabric and the one shoulder strap with a flower in the same colour as the dress. She grabbed it out of the closet and laid it out on the bed. She saw Red had also taken care of the shoes. Lizzie opened her suitcase, grabbed her toiletries and headed towards the bathroom. She needed to get ready for a date with Raymond Reddington.

She'd made him the happiest man on earth when she'd agreed to go out on a date with him. He'd had it planned out for a while now and though he knew he had a chance with her, he was still taking a risk and taking risks without knowing the outcome was something he avoided as much as possible. But he knew Lizzie would be worth it. A couple of months ago he'd started to test the waters. His hand would linger a bit longer on the small of her back. He would hold her eyes longer than necessary. Every chance he had to touch without the others seeing he took. At first she'd been surprised, sometimes even shying away from his touch. But soon though she didn't shy away form his touch anymore, sometimes she even sought out his touch. He caught her sneaking glances at him and when he held her eyes at times she even blushed. He loved it when she blushed. He knew other men were interested in her. He understood. Lizzie was after all a very beautiful woman. She turned heads. She did so in every room that she stepped in to. He knew a few of those men had asked her out. She'd refused each and every one. He was glad, but this was exactly what had made him nervous. What if she shot him down? That would change their dynamics for good. Luckily she'd said yes and he didn't have to think about that scenario.

He'd brought her to his cabin because he wanted to share this place with her. He could move around freely here because he knew they would be safe. This was the only place where he felt at peace and he wanted to share this with her. Lizzie didn't know yet how long they could stay here. He knew she assumed it would be a couple of days. He'd arranged that they could stay here for two weeks. He'd told Harold Lizzie deserved and needed a vacation. Harold had agreed. What Harold didn't know was that Lizzie would be spending her vacation with him. They each had their own bedroom, still he hoped at some point during these two weeks only one bedroom would be used. Red changed his clothes. He didn't know which dress Lizzie would pick. He knew each one of the dresses he'd picked would look beautiful on her. He hoped she would wear the blue dress. He knew it would look beautiful on her and would bring out her eyes. Red quickly showered, shaved and dressed. He looked at his watch. They still had time. He opened the terrace door and walked onto the wooden deck. He leaned against the porch and enjoyed the scenery. They were surrounded by woodland that created a beautiful green scenery. The sun was still nice and warm. The birds were singing their tunes and seemed to enjoy their surroundings at much as he did. In the distance he saw the lake and the mountains. They were going to a restaurant of a good friend of his first. After that they would go to a small outdoor jazz bar that was on the lake. It was a beautiful place with excellent music. He couldn't wait for Lizzie to see it.

He was so lost in thought that he didn't hear her approach. It gave her time to watch him. He was wearing his grey suit. It was one of her favourite. "Ready when you are." Lizzie said to him.

Red was surprised. He hadn't heard her join him. He turned around and let his eyes wander over her body. The blue dress hugged her in all the right places and showed her beautiful curves and her long legs. She looked beautiful, just like he'd expected. His breath caught in his throat shortly when his eyes met hers. Her blue eyes seemed even brighter than normal and sparkled. "You look beautiful, Lizzie."

Lizzie blushed because of his obvious admiration. She wasn't used to men looking at her like that. She didn't quite know how to respond to it. She noticed he was wearing a light blue tie and wondered how he knew she would pick out that dress. Did he really know her that well?

Red was silent too. He was overwhelmed. He'd planned this all carefully but to have it all happen now threw him off balance a bit. This was what it all came down to. She was it. He could not mess this up. He could not lose her.

She tilted his head and looked at him. She saw his eye twitch and he clenched his jaw. Was he really nervous? That couldn't be. Red always oozed confidence; some might even call it arrogance and never seemed to be bothered by anything or anyone. Did she make him nervous? His nerves made her nervous. She counted on him to take the lead.

Red realised he'd been silent for far too long and saw the questions in Lizzie's eyes. He closed the distance between them and kissed her softly on the cheek. "Shall we?" He asked as he held his arm out for her to take. Their date was finally beginning.

TBC...