A/N: This chapter will skip around a little bit. I want to fast forward to their relationship. I have up to Chapter 12 ready to post, but I want at least two reviews for the previous chapter before I post the next chapter.
High School 7
The weeks passed and Dana's place in her group was solidified. The 'popular' kids tried to get her in the beginning, but Dana didn't go for it. That act alone seemed to warm Mulder up to her, and he would talk to her without one of the others prompting him first. For some strange reason, this made Dana very happy.
Her joy increased when she earned her own nickname after beating Dana Fowley, one of the popular girls, for the right to swim the 100M and 200M freestyle and the 4 X 100M freestyle relay and the 4 X 100M Medley relay; swimming the final, freestyle leg. Mulder was her partner, in the fact that he was swimming the same strokes for the men's competition. He now called her by her last name, Scully. Previously being called by that name meant military, but now it was the only name he called her by and he was the only person allowed to call her it.
Dana liked that she had friends who stayed active with school sports; Mulder did swim team with her, Brant and John were the offensive and defensive quarterbacks for the varsity football team, Kayla ran cross country and Monica was on the Varsity Volleyball team. And that was just for the fall sports. Everyone in the group did something for all three sport seasons for school. The three girls also did soccer while Mulder and John did basketball and Brant did wrestling, for the winter season. For the spring season: Mulder and Dana did Track and Field, Kayla and Monica played softball, and Brant and John played baseball.
Dana took BIO 201 through Yavapai Community College, and was finding herself one of the top students; which only surprised her. She was looking forward to the next semester to take the second part of the class. She liked the fact that she could get the classes out of the way for when she actually went off to college. It would reduce the amount of time, money and energy she had to spend until she made it to Medical School.
She had decided to not take the job at the book store with Kayla and Mulder; she wanted to keep her time open to complete all of her homework. A part time job could give her some time, but not enough. So Dana spent all her time with at school, in the pool or at home doing her homework until Kayla came over and distracted her for a few hours.
But one day, something happened. It was Homecoming week, and of course everyday had it theme. Dana didn't dress up, because she had no desire to. And she wasn't the only one. John and Mulder joined her in the not dressing up fad, and because of that the three of them bonded closer together that week.
That Friday was a pep assembly and the group sat together in the junior section. The two couples cuddled up as close as they could, under the pretense of making room for others; not that any faculty cared at that point, as long as they didn't start making out right there. That left Mulder and Scully sitting next to each other. While making her way over to the group she almost fell, and the only reason she didn't was because Mulder and wrapped his arms around her waist to catch her and steady her. She n hoped he couldn't hear or feel how fast her heartbeat was, and that he'd put the blush on her face down to embarrassment from almost falling.
He seemed to and removed his arms until he was holding on of her hands to help her get over to him and sit down next to him. Dana let her hair make a barrier between their faces as she told him thank you. When the pep assembly was over and the whole school was heading to the next class Mulder decided to be a little cheeky and picked Scully up and jumped down the side of the bleachers. She laughed and yelled at him to put her down. He didn't listen to her right then and there, but he did eventually put her down; right outside the school's main building.
She surprised both of them, when he did put her down; she kissed his cheek before dashing off to class. She avoided him for the remainder of the day. The rest of the group noticed but didn't comment. That night Kayla was getting ready to watch the homecoming game before going to the dance, like most of the school. She was tempted to bring Dana, but she knew her friend wouldn't appreciate it after whatever it was the happened after the pep assembly.
So Kayla met up with Monica and headed to the school to watch their boyfriends play football. Dana was in her room finishing up her homework for the day so she wouldn't have to worry about it all weekend. She was contemplating going for a run, but her phone buzzing pushed that thought from her brain. She checked her phone, it was a text message, from Kayla, telling her to have fun and that they would hang out the next day at some point in time.
Dana smiled and responded to her friend's txt. When she sent the message the doorbell rang. Her mother answered it and let Fox Mulder enter the house.
"Dana, Fox is here!" She hollered up the stairs, causing Dana to come rushing downstairs.
"Mulder," she greeted her friend. He nodded back and the two of them headed to the living room. Mulder took his back pack off of his back and pulled out a thing of Butterfinger Bites and Pull-n-Peel Twizlers and a couple movies. She smiled and picked one out and moved over to the DVD player. She then led him over to the couch and they sat down next to each other.
And thus their Friday Night Movie night was born. Both of them kept a list in one of their notebooks of movies they wanted to show the other and then they each picked one from the other's list during Lunch that day and they would meet up at Dana's house and watch it. On those days she rode with Mulder who had gotten his license in October, instead of riding the bus or having her mother pick her up early.
Eventually Mulder told her why they used her place and not his. He lived on his own and didn't want to pay for electricity any more than he had to, so he didn't have cable, just a TV and VHS player. That prompted the question of why he didn't live with his parents. He told her that it was better for all involved if he didn't see his parents too much, especially after his younger sister was kidnapped four years before. She had been found dead three months later down in Florida.
Dana felt herself tear up after hearing what happened to his family and thought that the reason why Mulder didn't live with his parents was that one of the three of them blamed Mulder for his sister's kidnapping. She told him that December Friday, two weeks before Finals, that she was glad that he lived out here because otherwise they might never have meet and she liked that she knew him. She was actually trying to tell him something else, and if he got it or not, he didn't say. But Dana felt better saying something. The group of six exchanged presents; even though Mulder and Scully had said that exchanging presents between them didn't have to happen. She had given him a small locker sized "I want to Believe" poster after seeing the one in his apartment when he had to change into different clothes after a science class experiment went wrong. He had smiled at the gift before giving her a hug. His gift to her was a soundtrack to one of the movies they had seen in Theaters one weekend a few months back with the rest of the Swim Team. She hugged him again as thanks for the gift. The others in the group knew it was only a matter of time before the two of them started dating.
The group thought that moment was on New Year's Eve, but alas that was just the start of the buildup to the relationship. John's parents had told him that he could have his friends over for a party while they were at a party themselves; so the six of them hung out in the pool/guest house of the Doggett "Mansion" watching the marathon of The Twilight Zone. When Midnight came around the two couples exchanged the traditional kiss and so did the other two people. The other four people caught the kiss but said nothing. They would let the other two come into their own, in their own time.
Their relationship didn't actually start until Dana's birthday.
