Disclaimer: I'm only going to say this once: I don't own any of the characters and I'm not making money off of doing this. This is simply for fun.
Present Day (Thursday, December 25th, 2008, Ronon Dex' Condominium):
"John, dude, I really don't want to watch 'A Christmas Story' again." Ronon yells from his kitchen as he grabs some beers from the refrigerator.
"What?! It's a classic!" John exclaims incredulously. "Look, I'll turn on the TV, and it can play in the background." Then after turning on the TV he takes a seat on the couch, propping his feet up on the coffee table. Looking to his left on the side table he picks up a picture frame. The photograph is of Ronon and Jennifer's backs, sitting on the shore watching the sunset. Ronon's arm around her, Jennifer's head laying against his shoulder. He remembers this photo. He took the picture. A lucky shot. Ronon was the one with the 'eye' as Evan puts it. Ronon hasn't taken a picture for years now. As he hears him approach, John says "Thought this was in your bedroom." Showing him the frame.
Ronon takes it from him as he sits down, staring at the photograph intently. "I was looking at it yesterday."
Flashback to Senior Skip Day (June 2nd, 2000):
"Hey, let's go." Ronon whispers in Jennifer's ear as he steers her from the class room door, pulling her along with him towards the exit.
"Ronon, but…" Jennifer starts to say.
Ronon turns to look back at her and grins. "Senior skip day." Jennifer just frowns in confusion. "The teachers won't care. It's tradition, and it's the last day for us seniors. Do you trust me?" Jennifer just smiles and nods. With that, Ronon quickens his pace, passing Mike Branton who seems to be trying to convince Elizabeth into skipping school like the rest of them. Ronon nods to him in greeting. As they get out of the building and into the parking lot, some of the seniors are already driving away, others shouting out loud, sitting on the backseat of convertibles with their hands in the air. Music blaring, and seniors pouring out of the building screaming. At the far end of the parking lot Jennifer and Ronon spot John and Teyla. Along with Evan, who probably snuck out of study hall to join the fun. They're waving at the pair to hurry up, so Ronon turns around to pick Jennifer up and sling her over his shoulders and makes a run for it. Jennifer squeaks at first then starts laughing as he picks up the speed. From her point of view she can see Ronon's ass, blushing, she lifts up her head to find Rodney and Radek walking behind them, Rodney's face all scrunched up after looking back over his shoulders.
As they reach the trio by their cars John says "It's about time, we've been sitting here since ten." Kate Heightmeyer rushes up to them holding some swimsuits.
Teyla looks at Jennifer and says "We didn't get to bring our swimsuits, and we figured that you didn't have one either, so we've got three." Grabbing a red two piece from Kate and handing it to Jennifer. "Kate made a detour to the mall."
"Didn't the mall just open?" Jennifer asks.
"Kate's dad owns the mall." Teyla answers with a smile, while Kate wiggles her eyebrows.
"Oh. Thanks." Jennifer says.
"Well let's go then." Ronon says as he opens the passenger door to his truck for Jennifer. Teyla, John, Kate and Evan pile into John's black BMW Z3. From the side mirror Jennifer sees that Elizabeth had finally agreed to skip school.
As Ronon pulls out from his parking spot, they can hear someone yelling from behind them. Ronon steps on the brakes and looks out the window. Rodney and Radek are running towards them. "Ronon, can we hitch a ride with you guys?" They ask him.
"Sure, just hop on the back." Ronon says. They both get up on the back of the pick-up truck, settling down, they lean against the glass that separates the front seat and the bed as Ronon drives out of the parking lot following John's car. Glancing to his right to look at Jennifer, he reaches out to take her hand and squeeze it quickly before he has to shift gears. "Maybe I should sell this truck and get an automatic." He says to her.
"Why?" She asks him innocently, not knowing why . Smiling at her, he just shrugs, and picks up her hand again quickly and then shifting gears again. This continues until they reach their destination.
The secluded beach is scattered with seniors all over. A few juniors like Evan who came with John, Laura and Marie who rode with Terrence Bates, and surprisingly Katie Brown who agreed to go with Carson, were able to sneak out of school, too. Some of them have begun to strip and run into the water; others have set up chairs and brought out coolers. They've begun to form their own groups, making circles.
Ronon pulls out two folding chairs for him and Jennifer, a blanket and two brown paper bags, and hands the blanket and one bag to her. Rodney and Radek get down from the back of the truck and follow them. Rodney looks over Jennifer's shoulders trying to see what's in the bag. "Great, food!"
Ronon looks over at Rodney, shakes his head and says "That's for everyone Rodney, don't think you can finish it all."
"I never said I would." Rodney says defensively.
"You never have to." John says as he walks past them, carrying a cooler with the help of Evan. "You just always eat everything up." Behind them, Teyla and Kate are carrying their own folding chairs, Ronon stops to help them and then Teyla grabs the bag he's carrying.
"I do not!" Rodney protests.
"Jennifer, hey, I forgot to give you your flip flops!" Kate says to her as she waves it around.
"Oh, thank you." Jennifer says with a smile. "Um, where do you think we can change?" She asks as she looks around the private beach.
The guys are setting their things up as Mike and Elizabeth walk towards them. Mike has some beach towels slung over his shoulders. "Mind if we join you?" Mike asks them.
"Hey, Mike!" John says in greeting, shaking his hand. "Nah, you guys are welcome to sit with us." Then smiling at Elizabeth. "I guess you were able to persuade el presidente to break the rules for a day, huh… even if it is expected by the school." John says with a smirk.
"It was hard. But I managed." Mike said as he nudges Elizabeth.
Jennifer asks Ronon "Where can we change?" Repeating her question.
"Yeah where can we change?" Teyla asks too.
"Out here. We won't mind." Bates suggests as he walks by them with his arm around Laura. Laura makes a disgusted face, shrugs his arm off and pulls Marie with her towards some rocks and bushes, blankets under their arms.
"How'd those girls sneak out of school? They're gonna get in trouble." Rodney says as he looks at Marie and Laura's retreating backs.
"I didn't get in trouble when I snuck out last year." Teyla says, as she helps John spread a blanket on the sand.
"That's right, you went with Kanaan last year, didn't you?" Elizabeth says. Teyla just nods and looks at John from the corner of her eye.
He grits his teeth and says "Why don't you girls just get dressed over there." Pointing towards the bushes where the other two girls had disappeared."
Jennifer turns to Ronon again and holds out her hand "Keys, I need to get my gym bag from your truck." He hands her his keys and she walks off.
Turning back to the group he sees that Teyla and Kate have already gone through the bushes to change. He calls out to them, but they didn't hear him.
"What's wrong buddy?" John asks him.
"Jennifer went back to the truck, she's supposed to go change with them." He says, nodding towards the bush. "Nevermind." He says. Then grabbing the blanket that Jennifer set on one of the folding chairs, he follows her. "Hey!"
"Hey. What?" Jennifer asks him as she grabs her gym bag from the back of his truck.
"Teyla and Kate changed in their swimsuits already." Ronon tells her.
"Oh. Uh…"
"I can cover you while you change." He says to her. "I promise I won't look." He tells her, grinning.
"Okay…" Jennifer slowly agrees.
Ronon looks around and spots a big boulder and some bushes not far off. Tugging on Jennifer's hand, he pulls her along and sets her beside the boulder that almost covers her, and then using the blanket that he had brought along as another cover up. Jennifer sets her gym bag down, and then quickly slips her panty down her legs from underneath her skirt. Then slips on the red stringy bikini. Ronon is trying really hard not to look over at her. Jennifer looks over her shoulders, checking to make sure he isn't looking, then takes of her school ribbon and unbuttons her white blouse. Turning back to the task of unbuttoning, she doesn't notice Ronon surreptitiously look at her for a few seconds. He sees the slight curve of her breast from behind her as she unfastens the snaps of her bra. She bends down to take the bikini top and put it on. The clasp of the backless halter top is a bit hard to put on. "Ronon?"
His head snaps back to turn away from her. "Yeah?" He answers.
"Can you help me with this?" She says as she walks backwards towards him, showing the clasp, her one hand holding the bikini top in place. Ronon drops the blanket and turns to her, He gently wraps his hand around her hair which isn't in a ponytail anymore. She hasn't worn her hair in a ponytail for months now. He loves her hair falling freely, except when she's wearing a tube top or a tank top, he likes it when she puts her hair up in a bun showing her swan-like neck and her tiny shoulders. Sweeping her hair over her shoulders, he takes the straps from her sides, purposely grazing the back of his fingers against her skin. She gasps softly. His hands tremble a little bit, making it hard for him to fasten the clasps. When he finally gets it right, she takes a step forward to gather her things and put them in the gym bag, taking her towel from inside.
Ronon grins points to the skirt she's still wearing. "You gonna wear that in the water?"
Looking down, Jennifer laughs. Without turning around, she unzips the side of her skirt and slips out of it, but instead of letting it fall to the ground, Jennifer braces herself against Ronon's shoulder for support. He holds her arm in turn to help her. One by one Jennifer steps out of her skirt, her hand still holding the corners. Ronon looks at her from head to toe. He always knew she was petite and fit, you could see it through the kinds of clothes she always wears. But she never wore anything skimpy. He's never seen her in a swimsuit except for the school's standard black one piece, which just gave the illusion of 'skinny'. She wasn't voluptuous, but she had curves in all the right places. Although very pretty, her looks wasn't what attracted him to her from the very first moment he laid eyes on her. There was just an instant spark. And then the more they spent time together the more he fell in love with her. She was different from all the other girls. She was actually quite sarcastic in her own quiet and honest way. He loved her personality, her hotness only a plus. As they walk back to the group, Ronon purposely slows down his pace a little bit more to be able to watch her from behind. The sway of her tiny hips is hypnotizing. He's mesmerized by the gracefulness of her arms as she reaches behind her to wrap her hair in a bun. Ronon reaches out to caress the back of her neck causing her to shiver. He smiles at this and leans down to kiss her shoulder.
Back to the Present:
Ronon sets the frame down on the coffee table. He hands a beer to John and a sandwich. John takes one look at the picture again then back at Ronon. "So what are you gonna do now… I mean, you saw her at the game. And you're gonna see her again in less than two months. Ronon just shrugs. "Maybe you should think about going back to taking photographs again." John says out of the blue, as he takes a swig of his beer. "It's a shame to waste that talent."
"Maybe. I dunno."
John lifts his beer to the side and Ronon clinks it against his bottle. "Merry Christmas big guy."
"Merry Christmas buddy."
TBC.