Chapter 9
Scully put her arms around him. "That's for later." She sat down on the bed beside him.
"I made dinner reservations for after the game." She kissed his hair. "You didn't ruin anything," she added softly.
"I was so certain that I had." He said as he took her hand in his.
"You trust me don't you?" Her free hand reached up to wipe his tears away.
"Trust you with everything, Scully. You know that."
She smiled. "Then you know you didn't do anything wrong."
He smiled at her. "You ready for the game, baby?"
"Ready and waiting for you, l...birthday boy." Scully grinned at him, kissing him one more time before getting up again.
Mulder blushed. "Please don't embarrass me tonight."
"Who me?" Scully gave him her most angelic smile.
He pulled her onto his lap "Yeah, you..."
"We're going to be late," she said softly resting her forehead against his. He could feel her heart hammering against her chest.
He frowned. "Let's go then."
She didn't know what the frown was for but she got up and grabbed the keys.
"I'm driving."
She handed the keys over without a word.
"And it's not because your feet can't reach the pedal...I'm worried about your head." He touched the bruised place gently.
"That's fine. I'm not sure I'm up to it anyway," she admitted.
He kissed her head. He thought of all the yelling at the game and grew worried. "How are you feeling?"
"I'm fine. Really."
"Let's go have some fun."
"Are you ready for some basketball, Dana?" He was going to show her what a real good game was even if they lost.
"Ready as I'll ever be." I guess she added to herself.
She got into the passenger seat and did up her seatbelt. The trip there was made with small talk.
They were in line at the concession stand. "What do you want?"
"Be..." She kicked herself. What is with me? she wondered.
"I'm good with a Diet Coke."
He smiled knowingly at her. "Two beers," he said as the guy at the counter asked for their order.
"And a bag of popcorn...no butter."
Scully got her wallet out, ready to pay. He pushed it back. "No way."
"At least let me pay for mine."
"And let my pride get wounded...NEVER." He teased.
She rolled her eyes as the attendant returned with their order. He handed her the beer and took her hand while he juggled his beer and the popcorn in the other. Scully gently squeezed it as he led her to their seats right at center court. They were seated beside a father and his teenage son.
"You are going to love this, Scully."
The teenager was making eyes at His Scully. Scully smiled and was making polite conversation with him. "This your first game?" she was asking.
"I come here every game. Every season," the boy said proudly.
"It's my first game," Scully said conversationally.
Mulder was getting annoyed. "How about I leave you and lover boy alone?"
The father intervened, "Come on Stevie, let's get something before the game starts."
Scully turned to Mulder. "Was that really necessary?" She tried to remain calm, but her eyes were showing anger.
She shook her head when he didn't respond . The game was starting and she started to pay attention to it. He sat down and tried to pay attention to the game. He slipped his hand into hers. Praying he wouldn't get slapped. There was nothing at first. Then she squeezed his hand.
He leaned forward. "I'm sorry, Scully...that was totally uncalled for and it will never happen again."
"It's okay," she murmured before getting into the game. She was soon screaming with the rest of the crowd. During one play, she happened to glance over at Mulder to see that he wasn't joining in. He was sitting, looking at her with a bewildered, lost child face she had never seen before.
'What?" He said.
"What's wrong?" she asked sitting beside him.
"I'm sorry, Scully...about before I mean."
Because it was so noisy, she had to lean into him. "It's okay, Mulder...I didn't realize you were bothered." She kissed his neck and pulled him up with her.
His hand went around her waist and pulled her to him. When the Knicks scored a basket, Scully was so excited, she leapt into Mulder's arms.
He let his eyes meet hers and smiled. "Marry me?"
