AN: Madam Secretary Prompt: A "there's only one bed" fic, when Henry & Elizabeth aren't yet dating (or just started). This is from lilacmermaid and I love her prompts. She comes up with such interesting things.
After a long hiatus (decades), I've picked up writing again. The thing I notice most about my writing style is that I can be inspired by a 10 word sentence and then feel the need to write 4,000 words around it to make a story. This piece is an excellent example. "There's only one bed, but it looks like two blankets." was the starting point. LOL! I hope you hang in there long enough to get to the point!
I love feedback of any kind and if you have questions, feel free to ask. I'm also on Tumblr. Same name.
Hiking
Henry McCord pulled out the chair and sat in his usual spot at the library, third floor, long table closest to the window, far left spot. This was a specifically chosen spot, and it was his. It gave him privacy and a relative amount of quiet, as most people chose a spot closer to the exit for convenience. It also gave him a great place to people watch, a hobby he engaged in, particularly if he was dealing with a boring reading or had a difficult paper to write.
Emptying his backpack, he stacked his books and jotted down a quick to do list. Propping his feet on the chair in front of him, he slouched down a bit and got comfortable with his latest reading assignment. Perhaps only ten minutes passed, although he wasn't sure it was even that when he heard the click, click, click of shoes above the ordinary library noise..
Only his eyes moved, his gaze just above the top of the book he held in his hands. It was a girl. A blond girl, hair piled messily on top of her head with strays flying around forming a ring of random curls, a pencil stuck haphazardly through the knot on her head. She had a slim figure, and carried a stack of books that likely weighed most of what she did. The repetitive click click noise came from hard soled flats, which she paired with a pair of purple plaid pajama pants and a light blue Guns 'N Roses sweatshirt with the cuffs and waistband ripped off.
It took all of Henry's good judgement not to roll his eyes as the mess of a person crossed the study area and walked down the side aisle. She probably hadn't been in the library all semester and planned to try to make up for crummy scores on her midterms in the last few weeks. He didn't have time for that kind of mediocrity. Lowering his gaze, he went back to reading, all too aware that the click, click of shoes was getting closer to him. Then it stopped.
She cleared her throat and Henry raised his eyes to meet hers. She had uncommonly beautiful eyes. He tried to avert his gaze, but he was finding it difficult. It was if they were looking into his soul and it made Henry extremely uncomfortable. "Can I help you?" he finally managed to ask.
"Do you mind?" she gestured to his feet resting on the chair opposite him. Henry made it a point to look at the rest of the table which was empty as were the next two tables over.
"You want to sit there?" He pointed at the chair immediately across from his, where his feet were still perching themselves. She only nodded. "Seriously?" Henry's tone was indignant. "There are twenty empty chairs all around us and you feel the need to sit in this one. The one right across from me?" She nodded again, her eyes boring into him on a level that he found greatly disconcerting. "Alright then," he said, his tone, cutting. He pulled his feet off the chair and swiveled around the to chair beside him and rearranged himself there.
She set the pile of books on the corner of the table and settled herself in the chair. Pulling her glasses from the front pocket of her backpack, she shoved them on her face, pushing them up the bridge of her nose and opened the book on top of the pile.
Henry continued to read and eventually he shifted his notebook to a different angle so that he could make some notes for an upcoming paper. Against everything that made sense to him, his eyes kept wandering to the female occupying the space across from him. He didn't know that he had ever seen anyone devour information that way she did. She had to be a speed reader of some sort. She'd spend ten minutes on a book, write what he presumed to be notes, at a furious pace, and then move on to the next book.
Despite the distraction that was sitting across from him, Henry was able to finish the notes for his paper. Checking his watch, he decided he had just enough time to grab a coffee on the way to his next class. He tossed his books and notebook in his backpack and stood. "Bye," he said, with a certain tenseness in his voice as he pushed his chair in.
"Mmm hmm," she responded, not making eye contact.
Henry walked away rolling his eyes.
The next four days pretty much went the same way. Out of sheer stubbornness, Henry was not about to abdicate his seat. He'd been sitting in that spot for more than two years. He didn't know who this girl was, but she sure as hell wasn't going to push him out.
As he rolled out of bed Saturday morning, he winced against the pain of his throbbing head. He was uncharacteristically hungover from his escapades the evening before. Normally, he would have been home before the wee hours of the morning, but he'd stayed out much later last night. There were several parties on campus and he'd hit them all, with his friends of course, but he had an ulterior motive. He hoped to see her, library girl. It had been a fruitless pursuit and now it was 10 AM and he actually had things that needed to be done.
After taking a quick shower and getting dressed, he grabbed a granola bar from the box on his desk, picked up his backpack, and headed to the library. Walking in at 11:15, he saw that she was already there, taking up residence at her her side of his table.
"Good morning," he said as he dropped his bag into the chair next to where he would sit.
"Hi. I brought you something." she said, sliding the cup of coffee across the halfway point to him. "I thought you might need it."
"Thanks. Why did you think I would need it?" He cocked a brow in her direction wondering how she knew of his current state. That coffee actually looked wonderful.
"I saw you last night and you looked like you were having a pretty good time. I thought it might make for a not so good morning." She grinned at him. He tried to inhale, but couldn't get the air to go into his lungs. Her smile was dazzling and it made her eyes sparkle. She was stunning, even with her tattered long sleeved t-shirt, mismatched earrings and hair that was halfway falling out of the bun it had been in yesterday.
"Oh, which party were you at? I made the rounds looking for you and I didn't see you," The words fell from his lips before he realized what he said. He wasn't sure how to counteract the fact that he just said that he went to the parties specifically to look for her, so he just smiled.
"My roommate's boyfriend is a Sigma Chi, so she drug me there for most of the night." She took a sip of her coffee and he did the same.
"Hmm," Henry said, and tried to remember where in the course of the evening's events, he'd been at the Sigma Chi house. He thought it had been about about the fourth of seven parties. He couldn't be sure though. He diverted his attention to other pressing matters. "Since we're talking and not studying, can I ask you a couple questions?"
"I suppose," she took another sip of coffee and her gaze over the edge of the coffee cup was almost enough to make him lose his nerve.
"Uh, what's your name?"
"I guess we've been sharing space for a while now, you can know that." She grinned at him. "Elizabeth Adams."
Henry extended his hand across the table. "Nice to meet you Elizabeth. I'm Henry McCord."
She laughed, "I know. I asked someone last night."
Henry grinned, "Stalking are we?"
"No more than the guy who checked out several parties looking for me." she countered.
Henry laughed "Touché." He looked at her and was suddenly emboldened. "Do you have a significant other, Miss Adams?"
"Why? Are you interested in filling the position?" she tilted her head just the slightest in inquiry.
"I'm not ruling it out. Now that we are acquainted, I thought about asking you out."
"Hmm. I would consider that request, and no I don't have a boyfriend currently. I ended a two year relationship about four months ago."
"His loss," Henry mused.
"I tend to feel the same way," Elizabeth agreed.
"What are you doing later today?"
"Man, you don't waste time, do you?"
"I had already planned on taking a hike today. I'm just inviting you to come along."
"You really know how to make a girl feel special."
Henry laughed, "You look like an outdoors sort of person. We can do something else later if you don't like hiking."
"Eh, hiking's fine. I'm just giving you grief." Elizabeth smirked.
Henry smiled back. "I have a feeling you do that frequently."
Elizabeth stood and gathered her things. "What time should I be ready for this date?"
"How about 4 and we get something to eat afterward?"
"Sounds good," she said
"Uh, don't you need to study?" Henry asked Elizabeth.
"No. I just came to bring you coffee." She smiled and turned to walk away.
"Where am I picking you up?" he called out, loud enough that three people turned and gave him dirty looks. He shrugged.
"In front of the library is fine," she said over her shoulder. Henry leaned back in his chair and put his feet up where Elizabeth had been sitting and started reading.
Henry was standing out front of the library at 4 when Elizabeth came walking up. She had on a pair of black sweatpants and windbreaker with hiking boots. Her blond curls were pulled back into a ponytail and she was smiling brightly. "A man who's punctual. I like that."
"Well, I am usually on time, but it took me longer than I'd planned to get my work done, so I haven't been home yet. Do you mind if we swing by so I can change?"
"Uh, I don't usually go to someone's place on a first date."
"Okay, you can just sit on the bench in front. It will only take a minute to change." They walked the three blocks to Henry's apartment building and Henry pointed out the bench at the edge of a small garden area. It was decorated for fall with pumpkins, mums and a couple hay bales. She sat down. "I'll just be a minute," Henry called as he dashed up the steps.
Taking the steps two at a time, he rushed to the door and slid the key into the lock and turned it, hearing the familiar click. He quickly made his way to the bedroom and dug his hiking boots out of the closet and pulled his sweatpants off in exchange for a pair of jeans. He grabbed an extra jacket and a couple water bottles from the fridge and headed for the door, locking it behind him. Bounding down the stairs, he saw Elizabeth sitting exactly where he'd left her.
"Ready to go? I got you a water bottle." he said.
"Thank you," she replied and Henry directed her to his car. Opening the door for her, Elizabeth climbed in.
Henry rounded the front of the car and got in. "I thought we'd go to the Conservation area south of campus and just walk around. Nothing too big."
"Sounds good," she said. As they made the short drive, they made small talk about their classes and professors they had both had. Henry was surprised, and a little embarrassed to discover that Elizabeth was on a full-ride academic merit scholarship, given his first impression of her.
Pulling into the parking lot, they got out and Henry handed Elizabeth a spray bottle. When she looked at him, he replied, "Bug spray, to keep away ticks and mosquitoes." She nodded and sprayed her ankles and exposed skin. Handing the bottle back to him, she peered into the sky.
"Looks like rain," she commented.
"Weather report this morning said overcast all day and only a ten percent chance of rain."
"Hmm," she murmured.
Tossing the bug spray back into the car, he asked, "Which way?" Elizabeth shrugged and gestured in a direction. Henry nodded and led them to the south. After immediately crossing a small creek, they started the uphill climb and along the way, they passed a small cabin that looked as if it had been abandoned. "Maybe we can check it out on the way down," Henry commented. Elizabeth only nodded, for fear of losing her breath if she talked too much. They were quiet most of the way up and about 45 minutes into the hike, they crested what ended up being a rather tall hill. There was a lookout, complete with bench and Henry opened a bottle of water and handed it to Elizabeth. Having forgotten hers in the car, she gladly took a long drink. Handing it back, the pair relaxed and enjoyed the scenery. They both comfortably chatted and sat in silence. Neither seemed to be forced. Henry thought it was nice. He reflected on the last person he'd dated. They were together about eight months before Henry had broken up with her. She just didn't feel like the right person. She couldn't just be, instead she had to always be doing something. Henry, who considered himself a homebody sort, was annoyed by the need to always be on the move. He could be social, as he had proven the previous night, but he would rather stay at home with family or close friends. It sort of felt like that sitting beside Elizabeth. She only spoke when she needed to and it made him want to listen to what she had to say. He smiled.
At the same time, the thunder rolled low through the valley and seconds later a huge crack of lightning lit up the sky. Four seconds later it was followed by the deafening crack in the sky. Henry looked over at Elizabeth, "I'm going with the forecast was incorrect," he said.
"Yeah, did you count the time between the lightning and thunder? It was four seconds. That means roughly the storm is four miles away."
He grinned. "I love that you know that. But that means we won't make it back to the car. I think it's too dangerous to try and maneuver the forest in a lightning storm."
Elizabeth nodded, "Agreed. Think we can make it back to the cabin?"
"That's a better bet. Let's go." Henry grabbed her hand and they took off running down the hill as quickly and carefully as they could. About a minute in, the rain started pelting them as the sky grew darker. "We better come across the cabin soon or we won't be able to see it," Henry yelled over the now pouring rain.
Lightning flashed and three seconds later the thunder clapped. "Keep going," Elizabeth said, rain coming down in sheets now. "There it is," she pointed about 15 yards ahead of them on the path. Henry nodded and pulled her along right behind him. They ran up on the porch hoping to seek a little bit of shelter, but the narrow porch did little to shield them from the sheets of rain that seemed to be coming at them horizontally.
Elizabeth turned the doorknob. "It's locked."
Henry looked around. He checked under the old door mat and under a couple rocks near the bottom step. Then, reaching above the door frame, he pulled a key from the ledge. "Hopefully not for long." He unlocked the door and ushered them inside.
Pushing the door shut behind them, he surveyed where they were. As his eyes adjusted to the very dim light remaining outside, Henry spied a lantern along with a box of matches laying nearby. "That's handy." he commented.
"I think we can build a fire. Seems like everything is here." Elizabeth gestured toward the fireplace.
After lighting the lantern and building a fire in the fireplace, the two thought about their situation. "It doesn't appear that we'll make it to dinner. It's already completely dark. I don't think we could make it down the trail in the dark." Henry said.
"That, and I was thinking about the creek. With all this rain, there's likely to be flash flooding. We may not be able to get out even if we could make it to the parking lot. We're safer here." Elizabeth surmised.
"I agree," Henry said. He noticed Elizabeth shivering. Moving the lantern around the room, he said, "There's only one bed, but it looks like two blankets." he pointed at the double bed pushed into the corner of the room.
Elizabeth nodded, "Since we're already making ourselves at home, what do you think about moving the bed closer to the fire. I'm freezing."
"Great idea." He placed the lantern on the mantle and he and Elizabeth went to the corner and surveyed the bed.
"It isn't on casters, but we should be able to move it closer, don't you think?"
"Oh yeah, let's try it." With Elizabeth on one side and Henry on the other, they were able to scoot the bed close to the fire. "Now, let's fix the wet clothes problem."
"How do you suppose we do that?" Elizabeth asked incredulously.
"Well, I thought we'd each take a blanket, strip down and lay our clothes by the fire and wrap up in the blanket until they dry. And let me tell you what a dumb idea it was to change into jeans. My sweats would have dried faster."
"I don't know how I feel about that plan. I barely know you." Elizabeth looked at him skeptically.
"Are you kidding me? I'm not suggesting we have sex. I just think we should get out of the wet clothes and for the record, I barely know you either. You do whatever you want." Henry snatched the blanket off the end of the bed and tried to figure out how he was going to take his clothes off in front of Elizabeth without really taking his clothes off in front of her. "Would you mind turning around?" he finally asked.
Elizabeth smirked, but did as she was asked and even refrained from making any of the snotty comments she had thought about making.
"Okay," he said and she turned around to find Henry sitting in the middle of the bed with the blanket tucked in tightly around him. He clothes were laid out neatly on the hearth.
"Fine," Elizabeth blurted out. "I'm freezing and you look warm. Turn around please."
Henry turned, saying, "I'm starting to warm up"
Elizabeth undressed while Henry sat with his back to her thinking that this had to be the most ridiculous date in the history of mankind. "All finished," she said, scooting onto the bed, trying to hold the blanket in place.
"I'm sorry," Henry said.
"For what?" Elizabeth asked.
"Are you kidding? This has to be the worst date you've ever been on. I should've listened to you when we got out of the car and you said it looked like rain. Normal people go to the movies on a first date, not end up trapped in a cabin you illegally entered and are now stuck with a person you may not like. So, I'm sorry."
Elizabeth, who had been looking at her hands in her lap looked up and met Henry's gaze. "It's not the worst date I've been on. I think going to the movies is a waste of money. It's very cool that you figured out a way into this cabin and at least I'm stuck with a person I like."
Henry blushed. "What kind of suck ass dates have you been on that this isn't the worst?" Elizabeth laughed, "No. I'm serious. This is by far the most screwed up date I've ever had. You have to tell me what could be worse than this."
"If it makes you feel better at all, this is probably the weirdest first date, although I wouldn't classify it as bad. The worst date I ever went on was a few years ago, I was dating this guy in high school and we were taking a walk in the park and he thought he would rescue a cat stuck in a bush. Only it wasn't a cat, it was a skunk and we both got sprayed. He got bit and ended up having to have a series of rabies shots."
"No way did that really happen." Henry was laughing so hard he was tearing up.
"I swear it did. I thought everything smelled like skunk for six months. Even today, if I smell skunk, I start to dry heave. It's terrible." She laughed along with Henry. "Although, I'm so glad I didn't get bit. James had to take those shots for two weeks or something. It was awful. So, besides this, what's your worst date story." Elizabeth asked.
"Oh gosh, not nearly as traumatic as yours. My very first date when I arrived on campus was with this girl that I thought at the time was really cute and I wanted to impress her, so I took her to this fancy restaurant. When it was time to pay, I realized I forgot my wallet and she had to pay. When we left, I went back for my wallet and tried to pay her back, but she refused and wouldn't talk to me again. I now compulsively check for my wallet so that never happens again." Elizabeth laughed.
"She wouldn't talk to you again, even when you tried to pay her back. That's dumb. I mean people forget things all of the time. Her loss."
Henry smiled. "I figured that out pretty quickly. The more I got to know her from classes and stuff, I knew it was for the best. I really don't care for her at all now."
Elizabeth pondered that. "I guess that happens sometimes. Is that why you don't go big and fancy on a first date anymore?"
"No. That's not the case at all. Today, I just happened to already be planning this boatload of fun and I wanted to go out with you. The two just coincided. If you ever talk to me again, I'll take you to a fancy restaurant and I absolutely would not forget my wallet."
"Is there some reason I wouldn't go out with you again?" Elizabeth asked sincerely.
"I don't know that this is my best effort and I'm pretty sure I would be unimpressed with me if I were you."
"I'm having a good time. I will say that I'm hungry, but beyond that, it's been pretty fun.
Henry smiled and brought up a new subject and they talked until well past midnight.
Henry threw a couple more logs on the fire, hoping they would last until morning. "There's only one bed, so I'll just sleep on the floor here near the fire."
"That's silly. Get up here. We can share. I don't bite," she paused long enough to grin at him. "Very hard," she winked at him..
Henry chuckled. "Are you sure? You wouldn't step foot in my apartment so I could go behind a closed door to change clothes, but you'll share a bed with me when we are both without clothes altogether."
"Granted, you make a fair and valid point. Occasionally I'm illogical. But, you don't need to sleep on the floor."
"Alright. As long as you're sure you're okay with it."
"I'm fine. "Just keep your hands to yourself."
Henry gripped his blanket a little tighter. "No worries."
He stirred the fire one last time before laying down on the bed opposite Elizabeth. "Hey," he said, turning to face her. "I know this has been a mess of a date , but I just wanted you to know that I had a really good night and I'd like to take you out again sometime."
"I had a good time too," she said as she ran her fingertips along his hairline.
Reaching over, Henry touched her cheek and leaned forward kissing it, lightly before rolling back away from her. "Goodnight Elizabeth."
"Goodnight Henry."
