I am not a Heartie-but y'all seem nice so here goes. Up until a few days ago I had never seen a full episode of this show. But I have a dear friend who loves this couple and I wrote this as a little gift to her. She insisted that I post this here…hope I haven't maimed your fandom too badly, Katybug!

Set sometime between Change of Heart and Love Comes First.

Chalk Dust

"Alright everyone," announced Elizabeth with a little clap of her hands, "pencils down. I see you over there Jacob," she said, whirling to glance behind her at the boy who was furiously scribbling onto his page. He gave a her a sheepish grin and set his pencil down with a snap on the table.

"Thank you. I am certain that everyone performed triumphantly on their arithmetic test! You are dismissed, go and enjoy the sunshine," she said to their already racing for the door backs. Giving them a smile and envying them their easy freedom, Elizabeth started to gather up the test papers from the tables before giving a glance at her desk and the mountain of work and un-shelved books she had yet to tackle before she could head home to the cafe.

Dropping the tests onto her desk she grabbed her linen rag and started to wipe the word problems off the board, humming a bit under her breath as she worked. Humming turned to outright singing, loud enough for her not to hear the soft footsteps and light rapping on the open saloon door.

Jack stood in the doorway for a minute, watching her sing to herself, transfixed, as the sunlight gave her skin a glow that made his fingertips itch to reach out. To touch. He had the sudden urge to reach up and guard his heart before it was lost to her, but he knew it was futile. His heart had been hers since he had first walked into her classroom. The weight of his feelings threatened to both drown him and carry him away to safety at the same moment; she was the one, the only one. Even if she didn't sing very well...

He leaned his shoulder against the doorjamb in effort to look unaffected and shoved his hands into his pockets for good measure. He felt his lips tugging into a smile as he waited to see how long it would take her to realize that he was standing there.

"Your silvery beams will bring love dreams, we'll be cuddling soon, by the silvery moon," Elizabeth gave a little lilt to the last verse of the song and spun a bit swirling up the chalk dust around her.

"Bravo!," Jack shouted out, giving her a loud round of applause and a deafening wolf whistle.

"Jack! How long? How dare you! Announce yourself next time!" She finally stammered out her hands reaching up to try and cover the cheeks she knew must be flooding with red.

"I'm sorry. I couldn't let a performance such as that go to waste."

"You... ," she gave him a stern look which only dissolved into an unladylike snort of laughter when faced with the grin he couldn't seem to stop sending her direction.

Clearing her throat and putting on her her best 'Miss Thatcher' voice, she arched a brow at him, "And what brings you here this afternoon Constable Thornton? Official Mountie business I presume."

"Of course. If by official you mean my coming in here to ask you if you could use someone to carry your books back to the cafe for you. Not that you're not capable of carrying your own books, you are, of course, but I thought that it might be helpful if I.."

"That would be very helpful, thank you Constable," she said, saving him from his own verbal fumblings and giving him a sly grin before turning to stack the books she wanted to take with her.

"Is book carrying part of that fabled extensive training I keep hearing that you undergo in order to serve as a Mountie?"

"We spend weeks on it, ma'am. Just in case we run into a schoolteacher in need."

"Mmm, run into a lot of helpless schoolteachers have you?"

"No, just you so far."

"Jack Thornton, I am not helpless," she added with a laugh as she reached over to give him a playful poke on his shoulder and continued to pile the books and papers on her desk. Jack took to straightening his jacket and giving his sleeves a thorough inspection for lint to distract himself from the lovely woman in front of him. Why did she always smell so...delicious? It wasn't fair, by rights a woman who spent that much time running herd on twenty some odd children should not smell so wonderful that he was tempted to lean in and grab her by the hands and…

Jack was startled out of his fantasy of Elizabeth by the clatter of footsteps on the wood boards followed by loud shouting.

"You cheated!"

"Did not!"

"You are not faster than me!"

"Am so!"

"Are not! Oh, excuse me Miss Thatcher. Mountie Jack, sir," the little blonde said noticing her teacher and the Mountie and elbowing her companion in the side until he too acknowledged them with a shy tilt of his red head.

"Did we forget something Mister and Miss Hensel?" Elizabeth asked with a smile.

"Yes, she forgot her lunch pail. Again," the little boy gave a long suffering sigh.

"I wouldn't have forgotten if you hadn't pulled my hair on the way out and made me so spitting mad that…" She trailed off noticing that Mountie Jack was smiling at her and laughing and Miss Thatcher was making that face she makes when she is trying not to laugh. Tilting her head to the side she noticed the blush staining her teachers cheeks.

"Miss Thatcher?"

"Mm, yes Lila?"

"Did Mountie Jack make your cheeks red again?"

"Yeah, you look like last time when he came into class and whispered something in your ear and gave you that tele, tele..what's the word?" he whispered loudly to his sister.

"Telegram, and no, Benjamin," Elizabeth answered, glancing at Jack out of the corner of her eye in time to catch him hiding his laugh behind his hat. Knowing that her cheeks had probably darkened in a deeper blush than before she tried again to find her composure in the bottom of a deep breath, "I'm just, um, a bit, it's a little warm in here is all."

"Oh. Well alright then," Lila said, seemingly satisfied with that. She turned to grab her lunch pail and headed for the door, leaving her brother behind.

"Is he hoping to get to kiss your hand like in my Mother's ladies journal now that you've had dinner together Miss Thatcher?"

"That is an inappropriate question Benjamin!"

"That means yes," Ava whispered loudly before grabbing her brother's hand and dragging him out of the doors.

Giving Jack an embarrassed shrug she blurted, "I'm sorry! They all seem to be more interested in you and I than their lessons."

"If you were my teacher I'd be more interested in you than lessons too."

"Yes, well," Elizabeth cleared her throat, "...still I should probably have a talk with them about just saying whatever pops into their heads."

"Can't blame them for asking an honest question, how else will they learn?" Jack gave her a little crooked grin and leaned in to take her hand. "Besides, he was right. I am hoping to get to kiss your hand," he smirked and brushed his lips against the back of her hand before letting go and giving her a gallant bow.

There was a loud giggle and a louder "I told you so!" from the slightly open doors of the saloon as the Hensel children ran off.

"Oh dear, that will be all over class by tomorrow morning."

"I know," Jack said tucking his hands and hat behind his back and looking smug.

"Did you know they were still there?" Elizabeth scolded but ruined the effect with a smile. Jack gave her a shrug and pasted an innocent look on his face.

"Mmm, I don't know about you." She muttered under her breath to herself as she wiped the last bit of chalk away and turned back to hand Jack the stack of books he claimed to have come for.

"Shall we?" she asked.

"Uh, before we go out you have a little, uh, smudge of chalk on your cheek, just there," Jack gestured vaguely at her face. Elizabeth reached up reflexively and swiped at her cheek, the wrong cheek.

Jack have little chuckle and shook his head, "Nope, it's uh, allow me," he murmured, tossing his hat onto her desk and reaching his hand out slowly, giving her plenty of time to change her mind before brushing his thumb down her impossibly soft cheek.

As if a candle had been blown out in the room everything narrowed to the only light left for him, the twinkle in her eyes. Elizabeth just barely leaned her body into his touch, pressing her cheek to his skin. Heart pounding, Jack felt his palm drift down her face over her chin, catching the corner of her mouth. Unable to resist, he swept his thumb across her lower lip. He felt her shudder and watched her eyes close for just a moment at the pleasure of his touch.

"Jack," she murmured, even as she closed the distance between them and lifted her chin to look back into his eyes with expectation.

His lips brushed against hers, once, twice. The hand that had been brushing the chalk from her cheek had found itself tangled in the curls that cling to the base of her neck. He ran his tongue along the seam of her lips and took advantage as her mouth opened over his in shock, taking the kiss further, deeper.

He wanted to stop time and savor every moment and he wanted to rush into all of her all at once. Slow and fast, all at once. She was intoxicating, brilliant and everything he never knew he always wanted. And he wanted. Desperately. To cherish her, honor her, to love her in all the ways a man can love a woman.

He pulled back, overwhelmed by his own feelings and the sudden awareness of the fact that they were in a saloon, where anyone might interrupt. Letting his hand untangle itself from her hair and brush over her collarbone before he gripped her shoulder. Taking in her lips, swollen from his kiss.

Elizabeth reached a hand up in response, running her fingertips along his jaw. "Jack, kiss me. Please, Jack.."

"Jack?"

"Jack!"

"Wake up sleepy head!" Elizabeth gave him a gentle shove. Jack sat bolt upright and tried to get his bearings. Running a hand through his hair he took a quick mental inventory, realizing he was not standing in the saloon wrapped up in Elizabeth but instead sitting at his own desk with a crick in his neck and the faint taste of her kiss in his mouth.

"Oh, uh, Elizabeth, you're really here," Jack felt himself blush at his own words. "What I meant was that I must have dozed off after…" he trailed off, trying to remember when he might have fallen asleep but really only wanting to lay his head back down and drift back into that lovely dream. "You know what, I can't remember," he said with a shrug and an embarrassed smile.

"I think you've been spending too much time with Rip," Elizabeth said, bending down to give the dog an affectionate rub on his head. "Yes, you are a sweet boy, aren't you! Teaching Jack to take a proper nap, such a clever dog!"

Jack gave a little snort of derision at himself for starting to envy the dog Elizabeth's attentions as he stood to retrieve his jacket from the chair back. Slipping into his coat he turned to Elizabeth and offered his arm, "Shall we?"

"We shall," she said, giving him a cheeky grin and sliding her arm into his as they headed for the door.

"Where are we headed to anyway?" Jack asked.

"Jack, are you certain you're awake? We are about to be late for the town meeting."

"To be honest, if I had to choose between listening to Mr. Gowan and going back to sleep, well let's just say my dreams are a great deal more enjoyable."

"Really? You'll have to tell me about them sometime."

"Someday. Maybe…"