A/N: I've always wondered how Elizabeth and Henry met, so here is my take on it. This will be multi-chapter, enjoy!
Henry McCord was making his way toward Professor Watkins' office, waiting for his first meeting with the scholar as his new TA. He had just started his master's degree in theology and ethics, and was excited, if not a bit apprehensive, to be working with the most experienced religion professor at the university. As he neared the office, he saw a younger student waiting nervously at the door, holding a stack of papers in her hands.
She was tall, blonde, and well put together, he noted as he stood next to her, stealing glances when he could. She must be an upperclassman waiting for help on a paper, he thought, as Professor Watkins only taught advanced lectures. Henry couldn't help noticing how beautiful she was, glasses perched on her nose, flipping through the pages of her paper. He immediately knew he had to talk to her, get to know her, and for the life of him couldn't say why.
"Waiting to meet with Watkins?" he asked.
"Yes," she answered, looking up briefly.
Lord, she had beautiful eyes, Henry thought, seeing a sparkle in them he had never seen anywhere before.
"What class of his are you taking?" he prodded further.
"Religious Ethics in Catholicism," she answered, clearly more interested in her paper than a conversation with him.
Defeated, Henry leaned back against the wall and waited for Professor Watkins to usher him in. After a few minutes, the door to the office opened, and a booming voice called out: "Henry McCord, please come in."
Henry walked into the office, leaving the young woman outside, waiting. The meeting went by quickly, and Henry was satisfied. The professor's wishes seemed strict, but the research opportunities he could be awarded for good work were amazing. He didn't particularly like the man he was about to be working with, but respected his work and experience.
"Thank you, professor," Henry said, as the two men shook hands. "I look forward to seeing you Monday."
He opened the door, ready to leave, when Professor Watkins spoke. "Wait a moment, Henry," he said, and motioned for Henry to sit down. Then he called out the door: "Elizabeth Adams, come in."
Turning to Henry, he nodded. "See a teacher at work, and learn."
Elizabeth Adams walked into the office, and Henry smiled at her, happy to now know her name. Elizabeth seemed fitting somehow, he thought, and wondered why he had been asked to stay on if all she was here for was help on a paper he didn't know anything about.
"Miss Adams," Professor Watkins began, "you are taking Religious Ethics in Catholicism, correct?"
"Yes," she answered, clearly uncomfortable with the situation.
"What year are you?"
"I am a first-year, sir."
"You are aware this is an advanced class, Miss, and normally open only to upperclassmen?" the professor asked, in a tone that Henry was slightly uncomfortable with.
"Yes, sir, and I was told the advanced credits I earned at Houghton Hall would be accepted here and allow me to take higher-level courses."
She was wealthy, Henry thought, and clearly intelligent. He was learning more about the woman before him, and she was becoming more interesting by the second.
"Very well. That still does not explain your paper, which might I say, I am most infuriated by."
At this comment, Henry looked up at Elizabeth and wondered what on earth she could have done.
"Proposing a further inclusion of women into pastoral functions in the Catholic Church, and alluding to sexism within Church doctrine? Unacceptable, especially coming from a woman! Have you no respect for the Church and the privilege you have to be studying it at this institution? If it were my decision, I would have you removed from my course, or perhaps the entire department, at once!"
Elizabeth's head sunk, and she looked like she was about to cry. Henry was appalled. How could a professor, of religion and ethics nonetheless, be so blatantly chauvinistic and sexist? He wanted desperately to defend her, but Elizabeth was faster.
"With all due respect, professor, I resent the notion that I have no respect for this institution, church or department. I am immensely grateful for the opportunity to be studying here, and have already learned a great deal from the faculty. One of those things, professor, is the notion of equality and justice, something I see lacking in your prejudiced attack on my person. You have every right to criticize my paper, yes, but to degrade my work on the sole fact that I am a woman? That sir, is unacceptable to me."
With that, she left the room, and a stunned Henry, closing the door behind her. Professor Watkins turned to him, clearly ready to begin a verbal attack on Elizabeth, but Henry was quicker.
"Sir, I believe I cannot accept the TA position after all."
He slammed the door behind him, and ran down the hall to find Elizabeth. What an asshole the professor was! He had to find Elizabeth, comfort her, and explain. He never should have been in that room, or at least taken the opportunity to defend her, not that her eloquent defence hadn't been more than enough. He felt like an ass himself, leaving her to fend for herself, not being able to help in any way.
Eventually, Henry found Elizabeth on a bench in a corner, sobbing. He sat next to her, and began to speak.
"Hey, I'm so sorry for what happened in there. I never knew Watkins was such a pig. I honestly shouldn't have been there. Is there anything I can do to help?"
Elizabeth looked up with tear-stained eyes. "What, after sitting in there in total silence, watching him chew me out?"
"I can't even begin to apologize about that. I had no idea why he kept me there, and I was ready to say something, but then you tore him down with that badass speech, that was honestly one of the greatest things I've ever heard."
Elizabeth chuckled at this, and couldn't help but smile. "Thanks," she said. "I'm Elizabeth Adams, by the way."
"So I've heard." They shook hands and smiled, and Henry could have sworn a jolt of electricity passed between them at that moment. "Henry McCord."
He mustered all of his courage then, and asked "Wanna go grab some coffee?"
"Sure," she said, and Henry was elated. She was beautiful, and smart and somehow willing to go drink coffee with the guy who'd just left her hanging in a supremely awkward situation. They got up and made their way to the nearest coffee shop, making meaningless small talk about the January weather and what classes she had taken her first semester.
When they sat down at the coffee shop and both simultaneously ordered a cappuccino, they burst out laughing. Henry couldn't help the grin that was spreading across his face, and the thought that this was somehow meant to be. He watched Elizabeth curl up in the armchair and sip her coffee, and wondered how he'd gotten so lucky to be at the right place at the right time.
"What do I do about Watkins now?" she asked, clearly concerned, "I can't go into that class again, he'd fail me! And if I ask to drop it now, they'd ask why. And what dean would believe me over a tenured religious scholar?"
"A dean that was talking to you and the guy who was his new TA as of this morning, and then declined before storming out of his office following his sexist outburst."
"Wait, what? You gave up a TA opportunity because of my paper?"
"Well, that and the fact that he's a chauvinistic ass. I can find another professor to work for, that's not a problem. The problem is how he treated you, and I'm not going to let him stand for that. So, you, me, the dean's office tomorrow morning?"
"Thank you so much," Elizabeth said. "I couldn't do it without you."
"Sure you could," Henry answered, "after your badass comeback earlier, I have no doubt you could go in there alone. I just don't want you to have to."
They talked for hours, losing track of time and telling each other their life stories.
He learned she was 19, a first-year, from Virginia. She grew up around horses, and had lost her parents when she was twelve. She and her brother, whom she was always incredibly annoyed by, had been at boarding school ever since, and she threw herself into her schoolwork to cope with the loss.
She learned he was 22, nearly 23, and just starting his masters. He was from Pennsylvania, had two sisters, and that the way he was paying for his education was through the ROTC, which, according to his steel-worker father, was a better choice for his son than religious studies and ethics.
Out of the corner of his eye, Henry saw the clock read 5:04 p.m. "I have to go, I'm so sorry."
"No problem. I'll see you tomorrow at seven, at the dean's office," she said, and got up to say goodbye. They shook hands, which seemed awkward and formal considering they had talked for hours, but they both turned away before they could comment on it.
As Henry made his way across the grounds that night, he couldn't help but hoping that something more would come out of this unlikely meeting with Elizabeth, and that she felt the same way too.
A/N: Thank you so much for reading, the next chapter will be from Elizabeth's perspective.
