How To Save A Life

Rating: K at the moment, but may become T later on.
Category: Romance, General, some angst in later chapters.
Pairing: Jennifer/Rodney established.
Errors: Mine - this is totally unbeta'd (betaed? How do you spell a word like that?)
Spoilers: None that I can see, but I suppose you could argue Brainstorm.
Warnings: Nope, not yet. I'll let you know when it comes up.
Disclaimer: If I owned SGA, would we still be waiting on a movie?

Chapter 1 - When You Say Nothing At All

He was nervous – much more so than usual; and Jennifer had been sure that he'd become a lot more relaxed in the past few months they'd been together. He was trying to hide it, too, when generally he liked to share his thoughts with her. He'd said once that it helped him calm down, talking to her about the problems he came across while working, although there hadn't been too much talking after that.

"Rodney," she said eventually, after about five minutes of silence. "You've hardly touched your food, and I know you skipped lunch today. What's going on?"

He looked up at her from the plate he had been staring at. "Well, I, uh..." He cleared his throat and started again. "I don't want to do this here." He stood up and took her by the hand, heading out of the mess hall.

A million scenarios rushed through Jennifer's mind. The balcony she realised now that they were headed for was the most private place in the city, and was often used by couples who wanted to have a conversation that might be humiliating to one or both. He was finishing things with her, and taking her somewhere where her tears would be unseen. "Rodney?"

They went out onto the balcony, and the doors closed behind them. Rodney leant against the barrier, looking out to the ocean, and she followed his gaze before shaking her head and grabbing hold of his shoulder and pulling on it.

"Hey! Rodney, would you please look at me?"

He turned to face her, surprised at her forceful tone. She let go, and dropped her head with a heavy sigh. "Look, if you want out, just say so, okay?"

"Out of what?"

He sounded genuinely confused, but Jennifer just glared at him. "This. Us. Stop messing me about, okay? This is going to be hard enough."

He was silent for a while, and she turned angrily to leave. "I thought you'd have the decency to do that, at least," she muttered.

"What? Wait! Hey, Jennifer!" He caught her arm just before the doors closed behind her, and she turned back to him, tears pouring down her face. "What's going on? Did you think I brought you here to..."

"To break up with me? Well, you did." Her tone was bitter, but the control was somewhat broken by her sobs. Damn tears. Damn him. He had to make this so damn hard.

"No-no-no, I didn't! Why would I ever want this to end? I love you, all right? I love you." He pulled her back towards him, and held her as she cried. "I love you," he repeated into her hair.

Eventually she managed to get her tears under control, and she pulled out of his hold. "Rodney, why are we here?"

"I didn't want to put you under any pressure, or-or embarrass you, or anything like that, okay? If you don't want to-"

"Rodney..."

"We're here so I can propose." And he dug into his jacket, producing a glittering emerald ring. "Uh, I've kind of ruined the moment now, but... Jennifer, will you marry me?"

She gasped, covered her mouth, and turned away from him. Unable to control herself, she burst into a fresh bout of tears, and her whole body shook.

"I get it," Rodney said quietly. "It's okay. You don't have to-"

"You want to get married," she managed in an unfathomable tone.

"Uh, only if you want to-"

She spun around, grabbed him by the shirt, and closed the gap between their lips.

When they separated for simple lack of breath, he stared at her. "So, um, is that a... maybe?"

All Jennifer could do was laugh, and he had to join in.

So, what do you think? If there's anything that could be better, please let me know. I'm a stickler for getting things perfect.

~Past