Austin, Texas

It had been a week and Sue Ellen was still receiving flowers. She liked all of the attention and even if she didn't plan to respond to the notes that went with the flowers beyond a polite thank you note she still delighted in the fact that someone was thinking about her, especially since that someone was Mr JR Ewing.

Heading back to campus after her first Miss Texas duty, a ribbon cutting ceremony at a new children's playground on the other side of Austin, her mind went elsewhere. Earlier, she'd been given the schedule of upcoming events; the coming months were going to be extremely busy.

Wanting to avoid the disastrous state her relationship ended up in the last time her commitments had taken up much of her time, she knew she'd have to very carefully schedule time for class, cheerleading, modelling assignments, social events, personal events and specifically, time for Clint. She enjoyed each of the segments her life was broken up into, however she knew that becoming overwhelmed in one area could result in her neglecting another, which she didn't want.

She had no classes left for the afternoon but there was a fraternity party later, which she'd promised Paula she'd attend after missing the last three. Before that, she had plans to spend the afternoon with Clint and thought she might be able to convince him to escort her to the party.

Walking in the door of the sorority house, four of her sisters ran up to her talking a mile a minute, clearly they were excited however she couldn't quite understand why. Pulled into the common room, she was speechless. On every flat surface was a vase of flowers, no longer just yellow roses, colourful bouquets completely filled the room.

"There's been a parade of delivery men arriving all morning. Somebody likes you, a lot."

Stopping to admire each bouquet, she didn't need to ask where they'd come from.

"This also arrived, but it's wrapped, so we don't know what's in it." Handing her a small pink box tied with a white ribbon, Charlotte didn't hesitate to beg her to satisfy their curiosity. "Open it, please, everyone is dying to know. You've been gone all morning; almost everyone in this house has seen the flowers. I'm surprised you didn't know, a lot of the girls in my English class this morning asked me about it, word spreads fast around here."

Starting to untie the ribbon, Sue Ellen replied to the questions. "Oh, I've been away from campus, I was at a ribbon cutting ceremony this morning."

The bow came undone and she opened the box, which revealed a tiny card on top of whatever was inside.

'Darlin' the yellow roses didn't seem quite enough, you deserve more.

I'd like to show you, if you'll let me.

Have dinner with me, this Saturday. RSVP yes or no and I'll take care of the rest. –JR Ewing.'

Smiling as she read the note, soon thoughts of Clint pushed into her mind. JR was attempting to court her and she was entertaining the idea, despite the fact that she was engaged to Clint.

"What's in the box?"

Prompted by the question she set the card aside and continued to explore the gift, finding a beautiful silver necklace with a pendant inside.

"What does the note say? That's a pretty necklace, who sent it?"

Questioning her, the girls were curious about the grand romantic gesture, as she would be if she were them, but she wasn't sure she wanted to share the whole story with everyone, especially knowing that it would spread around campus in no time.

"They're from someone very special, that's all I'm saying. Share the flowers around, there are more than I could ever know what to do with and there are a lot more where those came from."

Taking the card, the necklace and a bouquet of flowers for herself, she headed upstairs leaving the other girls chattering in the room, now more curious than ever.

Changing clothes, she fastened the necklace, admiring how it looked on her. JR had good taste there was no denying that; the problem was, Clint wouldn't much like her to admit she enjoyed anything JR did.

She was in a difficult situation, she didn't want to RSVP no to the invitation, JR had her attention now, but also didn't want to hurt her fiancé. Clint would be annoyed if she said anything complimenting JR's efforts but would be upset too if she neglected to mention them. He was also a student and would definitely hear about it eventually, so even trying to pretend it didn't happen would mean trouble in their relationship. She had some decisions to make now.

Dallas, Texas

JR sat in his office, not expecting her to call, but hoping she would. The flowers were romantic, but the necklace is what he hoped to hook her with. All he needed was for her to say yes, an in person meeting would give him the perfect opportunity to persuade her that he was serious about his intentions.

He could have just used the usual chase and conquer plan, but Sue Ellen Shepard was special and his usual plan didn't seem worthy of her. He'd had feelings for women before, but never anything this strong. He was determined to have her and if that meant being more honest about his feelings then so be it.

He'd seen the look in her eyes, what he'd experienced hadn't been a one-way thing, whatever had happened that night had happened to both of them, she was just having an easier time controlling herself it seemed.

Austin, Texas

Walking hand in hand through the grounds of the UMLAUF Sculpture Garden, neither Sue Ellen nor Clint said much other than an occasional comment, mostly just enjoying being together. They often took a nice, quiet walk when they wanted a romantic afternoon out but didn't want to spend much money. Neither had a lot of extra money but neither cared, experiences didn't need to be expensive to be appreciated.

Clint had heard about the flowers but hoped Sue Ellen would bring it up herself without him having to. He wasn't happy about it but he didn't want to come off as accusing her of anything when there may not be anything there. Unfortunately, the way they were right now it felt to him as if she wasn't overly concerned about the other man vying for her affections, something that worried him.

"Sue Ellen? Please don't be mad at me for asking, but…" he began to speak but she interrupted him.

"You heard about the flowers didn't you?"

"Yes, I did. I don't want to accuse you of anything and have you mad at me, but I'd also like an explanation of what you intend to do about the obvious problem here. You're my wife-to-be and another man is sending you flowers and gifts, flirting with you openly, and you're letting him. You can't expect me to stand by and do nothing can you?"

Looking away from him, Sue Ellen appeared guilty, which was not a good sign.

"I agree, but please hear me out. JR has invited me to dinner on Saturday night. I know we agreed no more dinners with other men but I have a strong feeling that JR Ewing always gets what he wants and won't be deterred a declined dinner invitation. I think I should go to dinner, listen to what he wants and then politely tell him that I'm not interested."

"Sue Ellen." Annoyed, all he could say was her name. It seemed obvious to him that she wanted to go to dinner because she was interested in JR and trying to hide that behind JR's motives didn't sit well with him.

"I don't think that's a good idea. If the man can't take no for an answer then that's his problem, not yours. I will not have you going to dinner with another man just because you don't want to hurt his feelings. How would you feel if I went to dinner with another lady with the intent to tell her that I didn't want to have dinner with her? You realise how silly that would be don't you? No one accepts an invitation just to tell the person at the event that they don't want to be there."

Quiet, Sue Ellen still didn't look entirely convinced, however she didn't argue in JR's favour again.

"I'm sorry. I understand what you're saying. I won't go."

Relieved, he kissed her softly.

"Thank you. I know that was hard for you, but soon we'll be married and people will stop interfering in our relationship."

Marriage was the ultimate commitment, it was supposed to indicate to people that another was off-limits, but he did worry that as Sue Ellen had indicated, JR Ewing might not be easily deterred.