Advice Part II

"Ok, what happened?" Julie asked on Sunday evening when she found Elizabeth sitting on the couch, staring into a book, but not really reading.

"Nothing" she said and concentrated on the letters in front of her, but it didn't work. She had taken a cab on Friday evening to get away from John and she had also avoided Julie since then.

"Did he hurt you?" Julie asked and Elizabeth's gaze snapped to her face.

"What? No, of course not" Elizabeth said. He hadn't hurt her, he'd just been too confident in his ability to wrap women around his little finger with his charm.

"Then what happened?" Julie asked again and sat down next to Elizabeth on the couch. She took the book out of her hands and put it on the table in front of them. She then looked at Elizabeth with a demanding look. Elizabeth had wanted to avoid that look.

"He...it...forget it, Julie" Elizabeth sighed and shook her head. She then picked up her book from the table. Julie grabbed it from her hands once more and buried it under a pillow behind her.

"Elizabeth, what the hell happened?" she asked angrily and Elizabeth sighed in defeat.

"He...he dragged me into the Ferris wheel" she said quietly and winced at how stupid it suddenly sounded. "He threw me over his shoulder and forced me in there although I shouted at him to let me go"

"And you are angry, because...?" Julie said with a questioning look. Elizabeth looked away from her.

"He had no right to do that. And he embarrassed me in front of all those people"

"That's it?"

"Yes"

"Ok, let's get this straight: you are angry at him, because he threw you over his shoulder and dragged you into a Ferris wheel?"

"Yes"

"Ok, you've completely lost it" Julie then said and shook her head. Elizabeth stared at her.

"No, I haven't" she protested, but Julie didn't want to hear it.

"Please, you can't tell me that this is the reason. Elizabeth, why are you angry at him? Because he wanted you to have some fun and made the move to take you into a Ferris wheel? Because he dared to sweep you off your feet? Because he dared what no other man had dared before?"

"No, he..." she started, but she found no words. She looked at Julie helplessly. She didn't know what to say. She was angry at him, because he had already wrapped her around his little finger. She just didn't want to give him the satisfaction to know it.

"Hell, I would faint in his arms when a guy like John Sheppard would just touch me, let alone drag me into a Ferris wheel. That's pretty romantic, don't you think?" she said, but Elizabeth didn't answer. Maybe it was romantic, but it hadn't felt romantic at all on Friday evening. "He likes you, Elizabeth. Otherwise he wouldn't have taken you out to a flight and to a fair. And judging from the way you're reacting to all this, you like him as well. I know for a fact that you like him" Julie then continued softly.

"But he had no right to do that" Elizabeth still protested. Julie sighed.

"Maybe not, but he had the courage to do it nevertheless. You're angry at him, because he already cracked your shell, right? You're angry, because you couldn't decide this time how much to reveal to him, because he had already gotten behind your façade on his own. You don't want to give him the satisfaction to know that he could crack you that easily" Elizabeth stared at her friend. Julie grinned. "I know you, Elizabeth. You have fallen in love with John Sheppard, but you don't want to admit it, because he's this charming and cocky flyboy. It's against your principles to like a man like him and you are angry, because you had no control over it" It took Elizabeth several minutes before she found her words again.

"I don't like to lose control" Elizabeth said grudgingly and Julie laughed.

"Nobody likes to lose control, Elizabeth, but sometimes it's just a side effect of falling in love. The trick is, you just have to accept it and wait where it takes you"

"Where did you read that?" Elizabeth asked and raised an eyebrow at her friend. Julie grinned.

"Didn't read that anywhere. I just know it" she said and tapped her finger against her temple. Elizabeth smiled for the first time in two days. She then leaned over and gave Julie a hug.

"You're the best friend I've ever had, you know that?"

"You too" she said and pulled away. "So, am I right?"

"Right about what?"

"Elizabeth!" Julie said and raised an eyebrow at her. Elizabeth sighed in defeat.

"Ok, say I have fallen in love with him, hypothetically of course, what am I supposed to do when I see him again? I wouldn't like being left alone on a fair"

"Just talk to him tomorrow. Throw yourself right into his arms when you see him. He'll forgive you. He can't be more stubborn than you are"