Author: DannyNSamGirl
Fic: First Date
Pairing: Daniel/Shelley
Rating: M
Summary: Daniel and Shelley attempt a first date. But things never work out as they had hoped. Set before First Time. Don't want ya to think that Shelley's a tramp.
It had taken her several hours to decide what to wear; her usual clothes just didn't seem to apply this time. Daniel had seen her in practically every piece of clothing that she owned. This needed something different, something more suited for a first date rather than the usual SGC 'uniform'. Glad of the excuse, she had spent most of the afternoon shopping. It was her only real vice. On her sixteenth birthday her father had given her 100 to spend and she'd blown it all in the space of an hour. He had said that she had inherited the shopping bug from her mother, and from his own sister. Funny how that should be the one thing her mother had given her. Shelley was more like her father and Jack at times than she cared to admit to herself, but going out on a date in secrecy wasn't at all like her. She and Daniel just didn't want anyone to make a big fuss about it. Shelley knew that as soon as Jack found out he was going to make her life a living hell. The two of them were nervous enough without having to contend with his warped sense of humour. That was one of the reasons they had decided to make their way to the restaurant separately - she just wasn't ready for people to see them together yet.
Daniel had been waiting in the restaurant for the last fifteen minutes. It hadn't taken him anything like an hour to get ready. It had taken him less than three minutes to pick out his clothes; he had preparing for this date for a long time, and had planned it in meticulous detail. The suit he had chosen was his favourite. He had worn it on the day he had met the president, and somehow it seemed appropriate now. More than anything, Daniel wanted to make a good impression on Shelley. This date was important to him. They had gone through so much to get to this point.
He heard the door to the restaurant open and close, a few feet in front of him. His head jerked up in anticipation, and sunk back to stare at his menu as a middle-aged woman strode in and waved at someone across the room. From his table in the centre of the restaurant, he could command a particularly good view of all the major entrances, hoping to see Shelley when she arrived. But, she was already fifteen minutes late. In the last 10 minutes he had checked his watch sixteen times, and once had even held it up to his ear to hear it ticking. By now, he was beginning to think that she had changed her mind about everything. Daniel looked down at his menu, trying to choose something before Shelley arrived.
'Dr Jackson,' a voice called out.
Daniel looked up from his menu.
Standing in front of him was the maitre d' in his best tuxedo.
Yes?'
Your guest is here.'
The maitre d' moved out of the way, revealing a very nervous Shelley O'Neill. Daniel stood up, not being able to take his eyes of her.
'You look, stunning,' he blurted out.
Thank you.'
Shelley looked only slightly embarrassed by Daniel's comment.
'Are you sure this is ok?'
Shelley patted down her dress; still unsure that what she had chosen was quite right for a first date. She had previously worn this dress on her third date with her first boyfriend in college. He seemed to like it almost as much as Daniel. The boyfriend at the time said that the blue matched the colour of her eyes, which was a little bit strange, because the dress was light blue and her eyes were dark green. Maybe it wasn't just the dress he was looking at. She smoothed the skirt down over her hips and wondered for the umpteenth time whether it was too tight.
'It looks fine.'
Daniel moved around the table, pulling out a chair for her. Shelley smiled. It made a nice change to sit on proper chairs rather than the utilitarian plastic stools in her lab at the base. Shelley sat down as the maitre' d' handed her another menu.
'I hope you haven't been waiting long. I had to try and get out of the house without Jack seeing me.'
'That's ok. The last thing we both need is a million inappropriate questions.' Daniel grimaced at the thought of Jack's interrogatory style.
Shelley nodded. No doubt the questions would come later. Jack would probably find out somehow, he usually did. Only this time it seemed different. She wasn't dating just anyone. If this went wrong it could cause serious complications for Daniel and Jack's friendship. The last thing she wanted was to come between them.
'Anyway,' Shelley said. 'We didn't come here to talk about Jack.'
Daniel nodded.
'No, we didn't.'
'So…what did we come her for?' Shelley whispered.
This was the question that had been plaguing her all day. After having passed through the initial attraction stage, Shelley was concerned that they didn't really have that much in common, apart from their unusual line of work… and Jack of course. She just hoped that it didn't spell the kiss of death for them. Daniel smiled.
'We came here to, get to know each other a little better.'
'Well, I think you know pretty much everything about me. And considering the fact that I have an over protective, interfering brother, it amazes me that you're still interested,' Shelley replied wryly.
'Jack doesn't scare me off that easily.'
'Oh really. Then why didn't you tell him about this evening?'
'Because he was really busy and I didn't want to interrupt.'
Shelley shook her head, not believing it for a minute.
'Oh and I thought it was the same reason that I didn't. He'd only make a joke of it, pretending to be funny. And, I couldn't take all the questions.'
'What questions?' Daniel asked.
Shelley pulled in her chair closer to the table.
'What did I wear, where did you take me. Was there anything else I wanted to tell him.'
He nodded, understanding exactly what she meant.
'Oh. Would he really ask that?'
'Yes he would. You should've seen what he did to my date for the prom. He frisked him to see if he was carrying and alcohol or drugs. If he hadn't, my father would have.'
'Did he find anything?'
'No. He'd hidden it in the trunk of the limousine. I paid for it when I got home about at about six in the morning, very drunk and half asleep. I must have slept through the whole of the next day.'
'Well I promise not to keep you up that late.' Daniel smiled and turned back to his menu.
Shelley sat and watched him, slightly annoyed that he wasn't going to keep her out all night. The night of her prom might have been long, but it was the most boring night of her life. In the end, her date went off with one of her friends. Somehow, Shelley believed that tonight wasn't going to end in quite the same way. For a brief moment, he caught her eye, but didn't turn away like he normally did.
'I still can't believe how beautiful you look.'
Shelley's face turned red, now she was embarrassed. From behind Daniel came what could only be described as a loud shriek. Daniel turned to see another couple staring at him and Shelley. He didn't understand what they had done to warrant such attention. All they wanted was to blend in like every other couple in the restaurant. He sighed, giving up on that part of the plan. Everyone in the room turned as the woman let out another loud piercing cry.
'Isn't this sweet Walter?"
The woman pulled her chair around, getting a better view of Daniel and Shelley. The woman's partner nodded slowly.
'It sure is Trish.'
His nodding became more frequent until Shelley was worried that his head might fall off. She smiled, trying to get the mental image of the man's head rolling onto the floor out of her mind.
'Is this your first date?' Trish said.
Shelley nodded slowly, trying not to imitate the man sitting in front of them.
'Yes it is.'
Trish and Walter turned to each other. Shelley waited for the inevitable shriek that would follow and she wasn't disappointed. She shuddered as the noise penetrated her ears. Trish stood suddenly, picking up her drink and her chair, placing it next to Daniel. Neither of them said anything, but they were definitely thinking the same thing. What had they ever done to deserve Walter and Trish? Walter dropped his chair next to Shelley, making her move further around the other way. Now she was sitting directly next to Daniel and almost sitting on the same seat, which, on reflection, she didn't mind at all. It was better than looking at him from across the table. She just wished that she didn't have to share him with Walter and Trish.
'I hope you don't mind us butting in like this.'
Daniel shook his head.
'Of course not,' he managed but not really meaning it.
'It's just that we don't like these posh restaurants much,' Walter confided.
'No. No we don't,' Trish pushed in. 'We'd rather have a burger or something.'
'Then why are you here?' Shelley asked, hoping to get a very quick answer.'
'Today's our anniversary. Walter brought me here on our first date and again when he proposed.'
Shelley thought to herself for a moment. She wondered would it happen like that for her self and Daniel. But, she could never think that far ahead. This was only their first date, the way this one was going, and another probably wasn't on the cards.
'So how long has it been since you were married?' Daniel asked.
The two of them looked at each other and smiled.
'This is our fifth anniversary. But we've known each other since we were teenagers,' Walter told him proudly.
Going by how old they actually looked Shelley just couldn't believe that they were only married for five years.
'That's sweet,' she said.
As soon as the words were out of her mouth she winced.
'How long have you and…I'm sorry I never even asked your name.' Trish said.
Shelley lent forward in her chair.
'No it was my fault. I'm Shelley and this is Daniel.'
Walter stood and lent forward, shaking Daniel's hand forcefully.
'Pleased to meet you.' He said.
'You too.'
For almost an hour, the two of them rambled on about their lives, hardly giving Shelley and Daniel a chance for any input into the conversation. It was all about Walter and Trish and how perfect their five years together had been. Shelley had no choice but to fain interest in one or two stories. But her mind was somewhere else. She looked up at Daniel, hoping that he could find away for the two of them to get out of the situation without killing Walter or Trish. She looked down at the floor slowly. Without even noticing, she had been holding his hand practically the whole evening. Daniel looked up and smiled. Shelley didn't understand how this could have happened. But, she didn't really care. Shelley smiled back. For a brief moment as he touched her hand, Shelley forgot about everything that had happened. At this moment it was just the two of them and Trish and Walter. She prayed for a miracle that something would happen to get the two of them out of there, to get them anywhere but there. Trish turned to Daniel as she began to see that their attention was wavering.
'So, Daniel, what do you do?'
Daniel thought for a moment, hoping to put into terms what he actually did.
'He's an archaeologist.' Shelley answered for him, to ward off his clumsy attempts at a cover.
Walter smiled. Daniel had seen the look on his face many times before and knew what was coming.
'So,' He said, leaning forward in his chair. 'When are you going to take her home to meet your mummy'?
Shelley looked up at him. Sometimes that joke was funny, but not on this occasion. Daniel didn't say anything, just smiled tightly at Walter.
Thankfully, something other than Walter's comedy styling redirected his attention. His hand disappeared into his jacket pocket, pulling out his pager.
'I have to go,' he said.
'What, now?' Shelley asked.
Within a matter of seconds she heard the same pager noise that Daniel had a few moments before. Shelley read the message. It read simply 'recall'.
'I don't believe this,' she said.
Trish looked up, somewhat amazed and slightly confused.
'Since when did archaeologists and botanists have pagers?' she asked.
'Since they started working on other planets.' Shelley thought to herself.
'At least the two of you will be together,' Walter chimed in cheerfully.
Shelley knew that wasn't what was going to happen. It was very unlikely that they would be called back for the same reason.
'We should get going,' Daniel said, making a brave effort to sound regretful.
He leaned over, shaking Walter's hand.
'It's been an experience meeting the two of you.'
And it had been, the most excruciatingly boring evening of his entire life. All he had wanted was a quiet evening, just he and Shelley, getting to know each other without all the added distractions of work and her brother. But that wasn't going to happen tonight. Now they had to go back to work and try and persuade everyone else that they were just good friends, now and for the foreseeable future. 'If only it was that simple' Daniel thought to himself. It wasn't easy trying to have a relationship with someone and trying to work with them at the same time. Especially when you worked with her brother too. He just hoped that they were all too interested in their own lives to interfere in anyone else's.