Disclaimer: White Collar and all of its characters do not belong to me. This story does.
A/N: Happy Independence Day to my fellow Americans out there! I hope you all have a great holiday filled with barbecues, fireworks, and sparklers! Have fun and keep safe! I hope you enjoy this little story here. I just wanted to do something cute and festive for the 4th of July. Please drop a review! They make me smile! :)
We hold these truths to be self-evident,
that all men are created equal, that
they are endowed by their Creator with
certain unalienable Rights, that among
these are Life, Liberty, and the pursuit
of Happiness.
"Peter! Something's burning!"
"Oh, God…"
Peter jumped from his seat and rushed through the kitchen, practically knocking Elizabeth over in his scramble to get to the grill. He heard her laughing as the back door continued to swing on its hinges. In a moment she was outside with him, setting a large pitcher of iced tea on the patio table.
"I thought you said barbequing was your thing," she joked.
"It is!" her husband defended. He took a small step back so she could see the neat row of burgers sizzling on the grill. "See? Everything's fine."
She shook her head, slapped him playfully on the shoulder and giggled all the way inside. Peter sighed as he finished flipping each of the little meat patties. Elizabeth was a blur moving in and out of the house, setting up the small outdoor table with plastic cups, paper plates, American flag napkins, and almost anything else she could find.
"So what time is Neal coming?" she asked on one of her trips. Peter stopped mid-flip, his head quickly snapping up.
"Who?" he asked automatically. Elizabeth paused in the door way. She raised her eyebrow at Peter.
"Neal? Your partner?"
"Okay, Elle, he's not my-"
"I thought you said he was coming?"
"I-"
"I told you to ask him weeks ago."
"You…"
"Oh, Peter!"
"What did I do?"
Elizabeth shook her head and went back into the house without another word, leaving Peter dumbfounded on the patio.
"Elle?" he called. "What…What did I do?"
In the kitchen, Elizabeth bypassed the array of condiments waiting on the counter and went straight for the phone. She glanced over the small bulletin board on the wall, searching for the tiny slip of yellow paper that had Neal's tidy handwriting and punched in the number.
Ring…ring…
"Hello?" Neal's voice rang brightly through the line.
"Hi, Neal," Elizabeth greeted cheerfully.
"Elizabeth? Hi, how are you?" the young man replied.
"I'm great, thanks. I was actually calling because we're doing some fourth of July barbequing and it seems that Peter may have forgotten to offer you an invitation."
"Oh." His voice suddenly became like a pebble dropped to the floor.
"I was hoping, though, that you might want to come by? We've got plenty to eat and we'd just love to have you here."
"I don't know," Neal said slowly. "If Peter didn't invite me maybe he doesn't want me there."
"Don't be silly, Neal," Elizabeth said. "You know Peter. I'm sure he'd love for you to come. I know I would."
"Well…"
"Hmm?" she pressed.
"I promised June I'd hang around here for the afternoon. But would it be alright if I stopped by later on?"
"That would be great Neal! I'll see you later."
"Okay, see you later. And Elizabeth?"
"Yes?"
"Thanks."
"You're welcome," she said, right before the line disconnected. She smiled, scooped up the bottles of ketchup and mustard and whatever else Peter had requested and scurried back outside. She plopped everything down on the table and turned to face her husband, her hands on her hips and smile on her face.
"He's coming," she said happily.
"Oh," Peter said, and when she narrowed her eyes at him he added a half-hearted, "Good."
Hours later the couple found themselves sitting out on the patio, setting slightly-charred burgers on buns on their plates, with their favorite young ex-con between them. The sky was just beginning to darken and the first firecrackers could be heard going off somewhere in the distance.
"Is everything alright?" Elizabeth questioned when they started to eat.
"Perfect," Neal replied. Peter just nodded, his mouth filled with Elizabeth's homemade potato salad. Elizabeth giggled, the sound floating through the air with a contagious quality that made all three of them burst out laughing.
"This is really nice, you guys," Neal said after a while. "Thanks for inviting me."
"You're always welcome here, Neal," Elizabeth said and, to her surprise, Peter started to nod in agreement. Neal smiled and started to push away from the table.
"I guess I should be going," he said softly.
"So soon?" Elizabeth asked.
"Yeah, I don't really want to impose."
"Oh, Neal, you're not imposing."
"Yeah, besides, it's getting dark enough to actually see the fireworks," Peter said. "And I think it's some kind of a sin to not watch those on July 4th. At least in America it is."
"Are you sure?" Neal asked. Elizabeth nodded her head as she began to clear away the plates.
"Of course we're sure," she told him. He smiled and he and Peter helped Elizabeth clean up. By the time they were finished, the sky was completely dark. Elizabeth fetched an old beach towel from the linen closet and laid it out on the front lawn. She and Peter nestled in each others' arms on one end of the towel, while Neal settled on the other. Satchmo, who had been stuck inside during dinner so he wouldn't beg for scraps, lay comfortably between them, a furry barrier of sorts.
The fireworks exploded against the navy sky, yellow sparks blending easily with the stars and red ones glistening brilliantly before they fizzled out into little sparks drifting down to the earth. The Burkes heard Neal sigh contentedly and glanced over to see him lie down on the towel, his head resting on Satchmo's back. Elizabeth smiled and laughed to herself. When she looked back to Peter, he stamped a kiss on her lips, delicate yet sudden. Her gasp caught in her throat and her smile grew as he leaned in for another.
"The fireworks are pretty, aren't they?" she asked, diverting her attention back to the sky as another pop sounded in the distance. Peter didn't take his eyes off of her.
"Beautiful."