Getting it Right

The others had been gone for a while now, leaving Tom and Liz as the last two sitting at the little picnic table on the patio of the bar, drinking and talking. She had needed to vent all evening long, but she hadn't dared while there had been such a crowd of friends around. Not just the friends the two lone people remaining shared, but many that knew Nick as well. Everyone knew Nick and everyone loved him. Well, everyone knew him except for Tom, and maybe that's why Liz found the confession tumbling from her lips to the man that she hadn't spent a great deal of one-on-one time with.

"Nick proposed."

Blue eyes blinked owlishly from behind his glasses. "Your boyfriend, right? Isn't that good?"

Liz swallowed hard and took another long drink from her beer. "It should be, right?"

A smile tugged his lips outward and he chuckled, his gaze drifted to her left hand. "No ring?"

She frowned a little and found the movement behind him to keep her gaze. There was something about the way that he looked at her that made her feel like an open book. She had always been reserved and sometimes even closed off to most of her friends, but Tom Keen had a way of working around her defences with seemingly little effort. Strange, with as little time as they really spent communicating, she had felt a strange connection to him since he had started hanging around the same crowd of friends as she did a few months earlier. Maybe that's what brought the honesty from her. "I told him no."

Tom winced and set his newly emptied glass down. "Rough."

"Well what was I supposed to do? I don't know if I want to marry the man or not," Liz snapped irritably, but when he raised his hands in a defencive gesture she loosed a long breath. "Sorry. You don't want to hear about my relationship problems."

His smile returned, though it was more of a smirk, and he shrugged. "I don't mind. I'm just going to need another beer for this one. You?"

She watched him motion to the waitress. "If you're buying," she half-joked and saw him signal for two more. Part of her knew that she probably shouldn't let him, even if he were willing. She was about to vent her dating frustrations out to a guy that she barely knew. One that wasn't dating anyone, as far as she was aware. While she certainly wasn't interested in the bookish elementary school teacher - at least, she had been telling herself that the last several times that they had been at the same gatherings - it would look wrong. She wasn't the type of girl that jumped from one guy to the next.

The other part of her, though, didn't care. She needed someone to talk to about this, and all of her friends just loved Nick. She needed someone that didn't know just how perfect he appeared, and if that someone happened to be Tom, well, so be it.

The waitress set the two beers down and Tom took hold of his, leaning back a little to study her. He didn't say anything, but waited, and after Liz took a couple of long drinks from her own glass, the story started to spill out. Nick was everything everyone said he was: he was sweet and he was talented, brilliant and going places. He volunteered in the rare time off that he wasn't working on his residency and he treated her well. There was no denying that. He was busy, sure, but so was she. She was on a partial leave from work to finish up her graduate degree that took up most of her spare time.

"He caught me by surprise, you know? We'd never even talked about it, and there he was down on one knee," she said as they stood, the ground shifting a little below her as she did so. Tom reached out to steady her, his movement quick and smooth, and she hadn't realized she'd had quite that much to drink.

"Let's get you a cab," he offered.

"My apartment is just around the corner. I'm fine, really."

"Then at least let me walk you. It's late."

"What a gentleman," she teased with a laugh. His hands were still steadying her shoulders and she pulled in a deep breath to try to regain her composure, eyes flickering up to look at him. Tom was cute, in a nerdy sort of way. He wasn't really the type that she had ever been interested in with his tortoiseshell-rimmed glasses and his cardigan, but there was something charming about the way he tried so desperately not to flirt with her, and seemed to think that she didn't notice. She could see it in the way that he purposefully didn't touch her unless he had to and the way that he always seemed to take a seat down from her rather than next to her, yet constantly caught him glancing her way. He always had something to say that could make her laugh, though, and she was secretly happy when he showed up to a group outing, though she didn't usually admit that even to herself.

"I try," he answered back, offering his arm for balance. She took it and glanced back, realizing that both of their bills had already been paid. She wasn't sure when he'd grabbed the two remaining checks, but he'd taken care of hers as well.

"I'll get next time," she offered.

Tom grinned. "I didn't think you'd even notice."

"I'm not that drunk."

"I know."

They walked out of the patio area and to the sidewalk. He followed her lead as she started towards her apartment a few blocks down, continuing on her pros and cons of the man that had proposed to her. Tom didn't weigh in, but that wasn't surprising. He had never actually met Nick, somehow missing each outing that the doctor made it to.

"He really is a good guy," she reiterated as they rounded the corner and stopped at the front door to her building. "I guess I was lucky to be dating him in the first place, but something just feels off. I mean, I haven't even taken him to meet my dad." Liz sighed heavily, looking up to find a pair of blue eyes watching her very intently. "I don't know. Maybe there's just something wrong with me."

"I don't think there's anything wrong with you. Maybe he's just not the right one," Tom answered softly. He shifted, a shy sort of smile tugging his lips. "Anyway, he's lucky to have you, not the other way around. I don't care what he does."

She watched him, her gaze curious and studying as her mind processed the words and the hidden meaning that seemed to be buried beneath them. Liz wasn't stupid. She knew that she could be difficult, stubborn, and frustrating all at once. She'd driven more than one decent guy away with it, and part of her wondered if that's what she was doing with Nick. She should love him, but she didn't.

They'd both had a little too much to drink that night, and if they hadn't, Liz might not have acted so impulsively. But they had, and she tipped up on her toes without warning. Suddenly her lips were against his, her hand moving from the side of his face to his neck, and he leaned into it. In that moment, they might have been the only two people in the world.

At least the only two that mattered.

By the time they broke, they were both out of breath and staring at each other with wide eyes. He looked a little sheepish and took a step back. "I'm sorry."

"I think you're right. He's not... I don't want to marry him."

He nodded slowly, almost as if unsure as to how to react. "Listen, I didn't mean-"

Liz smiled at the way he was stumbling over himself. He really was a good guy. She had been the one to kiss him, but he looked like he had just purposefully broken apart a happy relationship. "Tom, I already broke it off with him. When I said no, we ended things."

Was that relief that passed through those big blue eyes of his? "Oh," he breathed, shifting his weight a little. "So… uh.. Listen, it's getting late. I should probably get home."

The dark haired woman frowned a little. "I can't tell if you're just being a gentleman or if I have been completely misreading you. I'll tell you, if I have, then maybe I should rethink my career choice."

That pulled a laugh from him. "No, it's not that. I want to ask you out. I really want to ask, but… I shouldn't."

"Why?"

He frowned a little, and Liz watched him. He looked so sad, so torn in that moment, but he didn't answer. Instead he just stared at his boots, refusing to meet her eyes. She shouldn't be pushing this. She had just broken up with her longterm boyfriend and she barely knew this man, but as wrong as Nick felt, standing there with Tom felt right. Finally she had had enough and she slipped her hand into his jacket, startling him at the motion, and took his phone from him. "Well, you can't without my number," she informed him, keying it in and handing it back. "Now it's up to you."

With that she turned, walked up the steps to her apartment, and inside. Liz closed the door behind her and loosed a breath she hadn't realized that she was holding, her phone buzzing in her pocket. She pulled it out and a number that she didn't recognize flashed across the screen with a text message below. Dinner tomorrow? Sleep well.

The grin just wouldn't stop. She should be torn up about Nick, but it didn't matter as much as it should. His proposal had just brought to light the fact that they were wrong. She had no idea if Tom was the right choice or not, but she was willing to find out.

Notes: This little thing gave me a lot of trouble, but I have had some requests for Liz choosing Tom over Nick, so I felt I had to finish it and make it work. I'm mostly happy with the finished product. I honestly think it's the timeline that bothers me. Liz doesn't strike me as the type of girl to hop from one guy to the next.

Anyway, there will be an piece to accompany this one, as that has also been requested. Hopefully I can get that up tomorrow. It may have to do with Nick coming over and Tom making coffee... :P