I keep finding myself apologizing for the (extremely) long waits. hope you'll enjoy it anyway :D

Chapter 13: Awkward? No, this is way better.

"Thanks for all your help Daniel. I don't think I would have been able to finish this without your help." Janet said as she finished her essay.


Daniel blushed slightly. "Anytime." He felt like he hadn't helped all that much. He found himself thinking about what Sam had said. 


"If you and Sam win, Daniel has to kiss you." Jack said to Janet.

"But that's the same thing." Daniel said.


"Can't we do the classic 'losers buy winners a drink' thing?" Janet asked.


"Janet, that wasn't your opinion when we talked last week." Sam answered.


They had been talking about kissing, but Sam couldn't have possibly meant that Janet liked him. She had blushed at the comment. Maybe she had meant that Janet had kissed a different guy in a similar styled bet. Not liking that idea very much and not really seeing Janet agreeing to something like that, Daniel discarded the idea. Maybe Sam was just teasing Janet. He didn't really understand why it bothered him so much. He had crushes before but he always managed to get over them. Why was this one harder?


"Daniel?" Janet interrupted his thoughts.


"Huh? What?" Daniel glanced up.


"You seemed miles away. What were you thinking about?" Janet asked curiously.


"Oh, nothing. Just my math homework." Daniel said quickly. He felt his cheeks heat up and knew they were red. He never was a good liar.


"You mean the one that's due in a week?" Janet smiled.


'Busted.' Daniel thought.


"Come on, what were you really thinking about?" 


"Nothing, really."


"Fine. You don't want to tell me, that's cool."


Not knowing exactly what to say, Daniel decided to change the subject and said the first thing that popped into his head. "You want to do something tomorrow after school?" Daniel said quickly. He was surprised by his words. 


"What?" Janet asked. 


"I mean together, you know, with everybody, like Jack, Sam and Teal'c." Daniel said quickly.


"Oh, um, sure. It's the week before the big school break so I shouldn't have too much homework." Janet answered. 


"Good, that's good." Daniel said. He missed the obvious disappointment in her voice. 


"What did you have in mind?" She asked.


"Maybe a movie or something." 


"Sounds good, we'll just have to ask the others." 


"Yeah." Daniel said. "I should probably head back home."


"Home?" Janet smiled. "Settled in?"


Daniel smiled as well. The O'Neill home was really starting to feel like his home too. "Yeah, I am." He said as he left. 




By the time Daniel had arrived home, Jack had already returned.


"You're back late." Jack said.


Daniel checked his watch. "It's five o'clock." 


Jack blinked. "Not the point."


"But you said..."


"What I meant was, you stayed over at Janet's longer than I would think was necessary." 


"It was a long essay." Daniel shrugged.


"Right, the essay." Jack said, clearly not believing Daniel.


"Fine, I don't need you to believe me." Daniel said as he left the room. He passed Kayla on

the way up the stairs. 


"What's with him?" She asked Jack.


"Beats me. " 


"Translation: I bugged him too much."


"Me? No! I just questioned him about his date with Janet and apparently that bothered him."


"Daniel and Janet are dating?"


"Oh yeah. They were working on an essay together and everything."


Kayla rolled her eyes. "No wonder he's annoyed." She said barely loud enough for Jack to hear.


"What?" Jack asked. 


Kayla smiled and went back to her room.


"What?" Jack asked again but Kayla just ignored him. "Sisters."


"I heard that!" Kayla yelled from upstairs. 




"A movie?" Jack asked the following day.


"Yeah, it'll be fun." Janet said.


"Sorry Jan, I have a physics exam tomorrow." Sam said.


"Physics? You could ace that in your sleep." Jack said, to which Sam smiled.


"Still, I'd like to reread a few of my notes before tomorrow."


"What about you, Jack?" Daniel asked. 


"Sorry Danny boy, but I've got a ton of homework to do for tomorrow."


"Since when do you do homework?" Daniel asked.


"Never, which is exactly why I have a ton to do for tomorrow."


"Teal'c?" Janet asked.


"I can come." He answered simply. 


"Great. So we'll meet at the cinema at seven." Janet said.


"Sounds good." Daniel said. "If you guys change your minds you know where to find us." He

added to Jack and Sam. 


"I wouldn't count on it." Jack said. 


Both Janet and Daniel rolled their eyes as they left. Teal'c followed them. 


"So, you wanna go surprise 'em at the cinema tonight?" Jack asked Sam once they were out of

earshot.


Sam giggled. "Do I ever. Think Teal'c will make it so that Daniel and Janet sit next to each

other alone?"


"You mean Teal'c the can't-help-myself-matchmaker? Oh yeah."


Sam giggled again. "Care to bet?"


"Bet what?"

"Same as the bowling alley."


"Definitely." He answered before kissing her lightly. Sam wasn't about to complain any time

soon.


"Where is he?" Janet asked impatiently. Once they were in the cinema and had bought their

tickets, Teal'c said he was off to get some snacks. Daniel and Janet decided to go find their

seats.


"There must be a long line." Daniel concluded.


"Long enough for a ten minute wait?" 


"Okay, a very long line."


"Hopefully he'll be here soon. I can't imagine how grumpy he'll be if he misses the

beginning."


"Why? It's just the story plot streaming up the screen."


"Because it's Star Wars." 


Daniel looked at her blankly.


"Never get between Teal'c and Star Wars. It's like getting between Jack and cake."


"Oh."


"Yeah."


"Maybe one of us should get the snacks instead of him." 


"Good idea." Janet said, getting up. She walked up the steps and noticed a big guy sitting in

the back of the cinema as well as two other people she knew. She smiled to herself. 'Real

subtle, guys.' She thought as she passed by Teal'c, Jack, and Sam, all of whom were trying to

keep their cover by eating a big bag of popcorn that, Janet suspected, Teal'c had gone to buy.


She went to get a bag of popcorn and two drinks herself before going back to where Daniel

sat.

"Here you go." She said and handed him a soda. 


"Thanks. Where's Teal'c?"


"About five rows up."


"What?" Daniel asked. When he turned he saw his three other friends hopelessly trying to hide

their faces. "Why didn't they come sit with us?" Daniel asked. He realized the answer the

moment he asked the question. 


"Maybe they just prefer the back." 


"Yeah, maybe." Daniel agreed. He didn't ask if they should go join them and neither did Janet. There was a short, awkward silence before the movie started and words started to stream up the screen. 




During the movie, Daniel and Janet's hands frequently 'accidentally' bumped as they both reached for the popcorn. At such moments, they would smile shyly and retract their hands. A little higher up, Jack and Sam paid very little attention to the movie and instead found the interaction between their two friends more interesting. They would nudge each other every time that Daniel and Janet shared a look or when Janet would curl closer to Daniel. At one point Jack had actually laughed when Daniel had put his arm behind Janet. Sam couldn't help but giggle too, which got them a few odd looks. By the end of the movie, Daniel had actually fallen asleep on Janet's shoulder. 


"Wake up sleepyhead." She said gently. 


"What?" Daniel mumbled. He lifted his head slowly before he fully registered his

surroundings. "Oh, sorry."


"First time I've seen someone fall asleep during the fight scene."


Daniel blushed slightly. "Must not be getting enough sleep." 


"Come on, let's go find the others." She said and helped him up.

You know what to do now... where's that shinny buton?