Madam Secretary Prompt: "Over my dead body."
A/N: This takes place a little after Elizabeth decided not to go to Baghdad. If you're interested in the song that inspired the title, it's "Saturdays" by Twin Shadow ft. HAIM. I have to say, it's pretty funny going back and reading through my old stuff and seeing how much my perception of love and relationships has changed in the last few years. Essentially, college is messy. Anyways, let me know if you enjoyed :)
Henry had a love-hate relationship with these sort of outings. Fancy dinner receptions meant Elizabeth and Henry would have the chance to dress to the nines for a few hours. Henry could never quite decide if he enjoyed the hour before they left for the reception more, or the (hopefully) hours spent together after the night had faded with the music on the car ride home.
Ensuring their three children were occupied until the babysitter arrived at 6, the two could be found scurrying around their bedroom prepping for the night.
"Hey Henry, have you seen my other earring?"
Henry's head seemed to magically appear around the bathroom door, "Uhh, which ones?"
Elizabeth raised an eyebrow as she lamented, "Uh, the ones you bought me for our anniversary this year. The same ones I've been wearing every day since you gave them to me."
"Oh, um, they're nice aren't they?"
Elizabeth rolled her eyes at this remark, "Very funny Dr. McCord. Now could you please come over here and help me find them? For once, I'd prefer it if we weren't so late to a reception that everyone stares at us while we look for our table like two meerkats looking for a tunnel where we can hide from the hyenas."
Henry couldn't help but raise his eyebrows and widen his eyes in shock, "How many times have you watched the Lion King with Jason this week?"
There was a slight hint of a smile that accompanied his look of disbelief.
"Four times. And for your information, it's Lion King 1/2 thank you very much. And I'm serious Henry! I hate the attention!"
At this admission, Henry reached his hand around his wife's waist and stood next to her as they both looked at their reflections in Elizabeth's vanity. After admiring the simple, black dress she had on, Henry turned his head so he could whisper in her ear, " Yea well, for your information, you weren't opposed to the attention I was giving you the last time we were late to something. If I remember correctly, you seemed rather insistent we ditched the evening out altogether."
Elizabeth smirked as she watched Henry's figure in the mirror whisper hotly into her ear. When he began sucking on her ear, Elizabeth giggled and turned towards her husband. Wrapping her arms around his neck, Henry immediately reached his own arms around her back so that their bodies were flush against each other. He smiled sweetly at her, causing his eyes to crinkle as he held Elizabeth close.
She returned his smile with her own.
"Henry, I love you."
A strong wave of that love washed over her as she pulled him even closer and heard her voice break as she whispered, "So much."
Henry took the back of her head with his hand and guided it to her shoulder while fully enveloping her in a tight hug.
Pressing a long kiss to her hair, Henry caught a glimpse of something sparkling on Elizabeth's bedside table. Smiling knowingly, Henry pulled back from Elizabeth enough to spin her around on her heels and point.
"Found 'em. It seems as if they became an added addition to Ali's newest piece of artwork."
Elizabeth couldn't help but laugh as she swatted Henry's hand away and picked up her other earring that was glued down to red cardboard paper with sparkles and a mosh of colors. She easily removed the earring and put it on.
Elizabeth glanced down at her watch and then back at Henry, "Seems we're making good time so far. The babysitter will be here in 5 minutes and I just need to adjust that bowtie, handsome."
Henry pouted his lips and waited as Elizabeth walked back to where he was standing. She reached up and finished straightening the tie just as the doorbell rang.
"Ready Dr. McCord?" Henry asked as he held out his hand for Elizabeth.
Elizabeth wordlessly replied by taking his outstretched hand, and the two turned towards the door together.
Arriving at the luxurious hotel where the reception was being held, Henry was beginning to get apprehensive. Obviously, he was more than excited to have a night out with his wife. They were always a welcome reprieve from the everyday routine with the kids and work. However, he'd much prefer a date night that he could spend focused solely on Elizabeth. Even more important, he would be the only one focused on her. She always seemed to gather a crowd at these sort of gatherings, with her good-natured personality and her stunning looks. It's not as if anything had happened in the past, she would never do that to him. But Henry usually found himself becoming increasingly frustrated by the middle-aged, divorcees salivating over his wife. Tonight was an evening honoring one of Elizabeth's old friends who had recently been elected to Congress. Henry had no doubt there would be pompous, self-absorbed politicians looking to get lucky tonight. Nevertheless, Henry found himself opening the door for Elizabeth, and once again offering her his hand.
"M'lady," he gestured as Elizabeth snorted and grabbed his hand.
They made their way up the neatly-groomed lawn of the hotel and entered the lobby. Striding in sync, they followed the signs that led to a grand ballroom filled with at least 500 people and probably just as many chandeliers. Henry heard Elizabeth take a deep, steadying breath, and squeezed her hand. I'm here.
The two looked at each other and spoke in unison, "Drinks?"
Henry laughed as Elizabeth tried to hide her smile.
After acquiring the alcohol and weaving their way to their table, Henry and Elizabeth made themselves comfortable for the night ahead. Introducing themselves to the others at the table, Henry and Elizabeth fell into various conversations on the usual just-met-but-potential-acquaintances topics. Elizabeth chatted away about her latest research project with the man to her right, while Henry engaged in an intense debate on whether Sponge-Bob was appropriate for 3-year-olds to watch with the woman to his left. All the while, Henry kept his right hand on Elizabeth's left thigh, intermittently rubbing it up and down. When she wasn't taking a sip from her champagne, Elizabeth covered Henry's hand with her own. She gently stroked her thumb over his knuckles, a continuous comfort throughout the night.
As the night drew on, Henry began to think they might get lucky tonight: no one had hit on Elizabeth, or him, for that matter. He could never quite understand the infatuation either. There were countless other men and women not in relationships that were available. Why was it, he and his wife, had not gone through a night similar to this without turning down someone's advances since they were newlyweds? Did they really expect them to be unfaithful?
Elizabeth noticed Henry getting flustered in his thoughts and dislodged her hand from his so she could rub comforting circles on his back.
" Everything ok, Babe?"
Henry looked over at Elizabeth's face contorted in concern and smiled. Her forehead always did a little scrunchy thing when she was bothered or upset. It was pretty cute if Henry were being honest with himself.
He squeezed her thigh and said, " Nothing is ever wrong when I'm looking at you."
Elizabeth rolled her eyes, but Henry saw a sparkle in them as she reached for another sip of her drink.
Just as she was putting her glass down, a man came up behind the two and spoke loudly, " Elizabeth Adams! What a coincidence seeing you here tonight."
Elizabeth's jaw hung for a moment as Henry looked between her and this mystery man in bewilderment.
A few seconds later, Elizabeth was able to recompose herself and stuttered, "Um, Brian. Hi? I didn't know you knew the Senator, too."
Henry sat utterly confused as Brian, apparently, answered, " Oh, yea we go wayyyy back."
Henry could make out a faint slur in his speech and immediately squeezed Elizabeth's thigh. This seemed to draw her attention to the fact she hadn't introduced him, and she immediately fixed this.
"Brian, this is my husband, Henry McCord," she gestured over to Henry who stuck out his hand.
Brian took it and clapped Henry on the back, "Well, Mr. McCord you got yourself quite a woman right here. She's really somethin' isn't she?"
"How exactly do you know my wife Brian?" Henry inquired as he stood so that he was level with the man.
"Oh well, you see, Elizabeth and I were gonna get married," Brian confidently remarked as he stared intently at Elizabeth who was uncomfortably shifting in her chair.
Before Henry could get a word out, Brian continued, " I mean, I don't know if she knew it. But, man we were meant for each other. She just wouldn't even give me a chance."
At this, Elizabeth corrected Brian saying, "That's very nice Brian, but if I remember correctly, you kept asking me out even though I told you no."
Henry immediately tensed and his teeth clenched as he comprehended the words Elizabeth had just said.
" I think it's time for you to go, Brian," Henry firmly turned the man in the direction opposite his wife and gave him a shove.
Brian peered over his shoulder but couldn't see Elizabeth as Henry stood in front of her chair. Defeated, he continued walking in the other direction towards the bar. Confident he had left, for now, Henry turned around to look at Elizabeth. He retook his spot next to Elizabeth and looked inquisitively at her.
Knowing Henry wanted answers, Elizabeth simply stated, "Later," and Henry nodded in understanding.
The remainder of the night, Henry kept an eye out for the return of a drunken Brian, but it seemed his initial warning had scared him off.
While the table was waiting for dessert, Elizabeth brushed Henry's shoulder and whispered, "I'm gonna run to the restroom. Be back in a few."
She pecked him on the cheek and walked back towards the lobby. Henry returned his attention to the couple next to him as they anticipated what type of cake would be served.
It was around the ten minute mark of Elizabeth being absent that Henry became slightly weary.
"She's probably just reapplying lipstick or something," he thought, and cast away his worry.
When another five minutes had passed and she still hadn't returned, Henry decided he would go check on her and see if she needed anything. He excused himself from the table just as the red velvet cake arrived. He internally groaned at the inconvenience, but became even more insistent on finding Elizabeth since red velvet was her absolute favorite.
Walking into the lobby, Henry craned his neck for a restroom sign and spotted it to his right. He strode down a hallway and turned another corner when he heard her voice.
Stopping dead in his tracks, he could hear Elizabeth sternly say, "Leave me alone Brian. I'm not interested."
Henry began to increase his strides as he followed the sound of Elizabeth's voice. He couldn't hear if Brian had responded, but Elizabeth spoke rather desperately this time saying, "Please Brian, go away. You're drunk."
Hearing her words, Henry broke out into a run and turned one last corner, leading to a sight that enraged him. Brian had Elizabeth pinned in a corner with one hand on her hip and another holding a broken glass. The sharp edges reflected the light from the ceiling through the fear in Elizabeth's eyes as she was too afraid to move for fear of upsetting the drunk man holding a possible weapon.
Spotting Henry in her periphery, Elizabeth kneed Brian between the legs and he stumbled back.
He looked up in shock and fury, marching back towards Elizabeth with the glass held above his head like he was going to strike her with it. Just as he was about to reach her, Henry tackled Brian to the ground. The glass tumbled from his hand and shattered around them, bits flying in every direction. Henry pressed his weight on top of Brian and grabbed his collar, forcing him to look up into his eyes.
"No one touches my wife. Got it?" His voice was laced with venom.
Henry forcefully released his shirt and stood over Brian. He was contemplating kicking the guy when he felt a hand on his back.
"C'mon Henry, let's go home."
She tugged his shoulder and they began walking down the hallway.
They had only walked a few feet when Brian yelled, "You actually think you can protect sweet Adams from everything, McCord? Someday she's gonna need you and you're not gonna be there!"
Henry turned and glared at Brian, who had managed to stand on shaky legs.
Squeezing Elizabeth's hand, Henry answered, "Over my dead body."
Chiming in, Elizabeth half-yelled down the hall, "And my name is McCord, Elizabeth McCord."
Henry pulled Elizabeth against his side and wrapped his arm around her shoulder. She reciprocated by wrapping hers around his lower back, and they made their way to the exit together.
Once in the car, Henry gripped the steering wheel and took a deep breath to calm his boiling emotions. He looked over at Elizabeth and realized she was shivering.
" Babe, are you ok?"
"Yea, I just… that was… a lot. Brian was one of those guys in class that always insisted on sitting next to me, and was constantly trying to get me to go out with him. It went on like that for a few months. He didn't stop trying until he saw me out with another guy— with you."
Elizabeth tentatively looked up, hoping Henry wouldn't be angry that she had never told him about Brian. Instead, she found him simply looking at her, waiting to listen to all she had to say.
Realizing she had nothing else, Henry squashed her apprehension.
"It's ok. He's not important and he will never bother you again. I promise."
Elizabeth's teeth were now chattering, so Henry reached into the backseat and grabbed his jacket. He carefully wrapped the fabric around her shoulders and leaned over the center console to kiss her cheek. As he was shifting back towards the driver's side, he brushed his hand along her thigh and felt her wince. Quickly turning on the light, he saw that her tights had been slightly ripped and there was a small gash in her leg from the splintered glass. Henry grimaced seeing her injury and tentatively stroked his thumb around the cut.
"Shit Elizabeth, does it hurt?"
"Not really. I'm fine. We can just clean it up when we get home."
Henry sighed and cupped Elizabeth's cheek with his hand.
"Are you sure, Babe? We can go get it checked out if you want?" Henry questioned as he gazed into her eyes.
Elizabeth attempted to control her shivering and stated, "I really just want to go home, Henry."
Henry relented and gave her a slight smile, removing his hand from Elizabeth's cheek.
Before he could put the car in drive, Elizabeth caught his fingers and slightly tugged on them so he would look over at her once again.
" Kiss me?"
"Always."
Henry leaned over and stopped just short of Elizabeth's face. Without breaking eye contact, he readjusted the jacket so it was wrapped more tightly around her body and used it to guide her lips to his.
Elizabeth felt Henry suck on her top lip and simply reveled in the feeling of him surrounding her on all accounts. She lightly moaned and Henry snaked one hand up to hold the side of her head, his fingers threading through her hair, while the other found its home on her upper thigh. Before he went any further, Elizabeth pulled back and lightly smiled.
"Let's go home. We can cuddle all night."
Henry laughed and pressed a kiss to her temple, then retreated back to his side of the car. He put the car in reverse and left his hand on the throttle. Elizabeth laid her head down on the center console and picked at the torn seams of her tights. Henry looked down and couldn't help but move his hand so it was resting atop her head.
Yea, this was probably one of the worst social outings they had dealt with in a long time. On the other hand, they hadn't even made it to dessert, so they would have plenty more time at home together than previously planned. He shook his head with a smirk when he remembered what they were having for dessert.
"FYI Babe, they were serving red velvet cake."
There was a moment of complete silence and then…
"Aw come on!"