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 (February 17, 2009, Football Day):
It's football day and everyone has gathered to play a game of touch football at the park 5 minutes away from downtown. A beautiful day considering it's the middle of February. The sun is shining and it's a Tuesday so the park isn't crowded. A few joggers and mothers taking their kids to the playground.
The children are present, but are being taken care of by the hired nanny. They're all playing at the jungle gym and running around and screaming. And so are the grown ups.
Evan and John have started barbequing while Katie, Patty and Jennifer set up the picnic tables with food. Mike and Ronon have started to throw the football back and forth. Rodney and Carson are laying under a tree, nursing headaches.
As soon as John and Evan are done with the barbeque they call out to everyone. Everyone grabs their food and settle down, taking their seats on the bench. Unexpectedly, Teyla takes a seat right beside John and then placing Torren between John and herself. John shifts his glance towards the tiny little head on his right side. Torren looks up from his plate and gives him a smile. "Hi!"
John is a bit hesitant to reply. But after another 'hi' from Torren John finally says hello. Teyla watches them from the corner of her eye. Observing the very awkward John and her son interact. Teyla hides a smile as John shifts uncomfortably in his seat when Torren pokes him with his stubby finger.
X
Ronon shakes his head when he sees Torren and John, then looks down at Jennifer who's sitting right across from Teyla. She's staring intently at both John and Torren. A crease forming in between her eyebrows. Ronon takes the empty seat next to her. Following her gaze, his eyebrow cocks up. "What are you staring at?" He asks her.
"Huh? Oh, hey. Um… nothing." She replies.
"I've wondered about it, too." He tells her.
Knowing exactly what he meant, she slowly turns her focus on him. "And?"
"And… it's not my place to say anything." Ronon says.
"But John's your friend." Jennifer reminds him.
"And so is Teyla." Ronon explains. "I'm caught in the middle. So I just prefer to stay out of it."
Jennifer then looks back down at her plate. Pondering what he had just told her.
Ronon watches her play with her food. Surprised at how comfortable it has really been since yesterday. How they've managed not to let the past ruin whatever it is that's going on between them at the moment. He's never had this with anyone else. This feeling of satisfaction and happiness. With other women, conversation wasn't what they wanted. They wanted him for sex and money. That's why over the past nine years he's only had two or three one night stands. And that's exactly what they were. One night stands.
He buried himself in football. If he wasn't playing football, he was either training or surfing. Usually he'd be too tired to do anything else. Sometimes he'd hang out with John during his days off.
John on the other hand was a serial dater. But none of his relationships worked. The worst was when he married Nancy. Nancy was a great girl, but she couldn't deal with John. He made work his excuse to not be around her. After the divorce he'd gone straight to dating. Every week he had a new girl. And every week he would end up at his couch flipping through channels. Alone.
There wasn't a shortage of hot women in Palm Springs. In fact everywhere they looked they could spot a beautiful girl. But both he and John didn't even to try to hit on any of the girls in spite of the fact that these women are actually throwing themselves at the both of them. The fact of the matter is that they can't take their eyes off Jennifer and Teyla. They admitted as much last night when they were sitting outside on the patio and drinking beers after they all came home from The Riviera.
X
While they were digging into their food an unexpected guest arrives.
"Hi!"
Jennifer stiffens at the sound of the voice.
"Hey you made it!" Marie exclaims, hopping from her seat to give Amelia Banks a hug.
"Yeah. Thanks for inviting me." She replies.
"Here, I saved you a plate." Marie says, handing her a plate filled with food. "With these guys," nodding her head to the men behind her "you can never be too careful."
Laura then gets up from her seat next to Ronon and says "Amelia, take my seat. I'm already done."
Teyla notices a slight change in Jennifer's demeanor. She tries to make eye contact with Jennifer, but her eyes have focused on a spot on the table. Teyla can see the various play of emotions in her eyes. She shifts her attention to Ronon who hardly noticed Amelia taking the seat beside him.
Ronon's taking a big bite out of his burger and at the same time squeezing out ketchup and mayonnaise onto Jennifer's plate. He grabs a spoon and mixes the condiments together and then nudges her, bringing her out of her reverie. Jennifer suddenly snaps out of it and grabs a fry and dips it into the mixed sauce.
Teyla smiles at the sweet and familiar gesture.
Flashback to April 14, 2000 (The day Rodney asked Laura to the Prom):
"Why do I have to ask Marie Ko?" Radek asks frustratingly in a whisper.
"Because Marie and Laura are always together. That's why." Rodney says.
It's lunch time and the refectory is buzzing with the usual chatter. One particular conversation catches Teyla's attention as she takes a seat in one dining table. Right behind her she can clearly hear Rodney and Radek discussing plans for the prom.
"And what makes you think that I would agree with your plan? I already said that I don't want to go." Radek tells him.
"If you do this for me… I won't criticize your work for a week." Rodney says.
"A week?!" Radek repeats incredulously.
"Fine two weeks?!"
"Two weeks? That's it? That's all you can do?"
"Prom is only for one night." Rodney argues.
"Apparently, one night for you can cost a lifetime. A month!" Radek says to him.
"A month?! Wh-?"
"A month? And I want pete!"
"My gerbil?!"
"It's only fair." Radek says with finality.
"Fine." Rodney gives in.
Teyla smiles and shakes her head as she listens to their silly antics.
"What's so funny? And why are you shaking your head?" Kate Heightmeyer asks as she takes the seat from across her.
"Hmm? Oh nothing. I was just eavesdropping." Teyla says.
"Anything juicy?" Kate asks as she peels her banana.
"I'll tell you later, in the meantime, take a look at that." Teyla subtly points her finger, the direction leading to whatever is behind Kate.
Kate slowly turns her head around. Behind her, on the other dining table, are Ronon and Jennifer. Sitting close together. Jennifer's holding a book in one hand, a fry on another. Ronon is squeezing ketchup onto some mayonnaise and then mixing them together. He lifts the top bun of Jennifer's burger and spears out the onions and pickles and puts them in his own burger. He nudges her and she stops reading. Putting the book down, she lifts the top of her bun and smiles. And mouths a 'thanks' to him. Ronon pushes the basket of fries towards her and she dips her fry into the sauce.
"I swear, those two can give me a toothache." Kate says when she turns back around.
"They're sweet. But at least not the annoying kind." Teyla comments.
"I couldn't believe my eyes when Ronon brought her to Sheppard's house a week ago." Kate says.
"I wasn't surprised at all."
Kate looks up from her tray to look at Teyla questioningly.
"I've always suspected. Ever since she moved here he's been, well, different. He's always searching the crowd before his games. Always sits either behind her or beside her during class." Teyla explains. "Makes excuses like he forgot to bring a pen or his book to class so he can share with her when he's able to take the seat beside hers. And most obvious of all, at least to me and John, the tutorials."
"What about the tutorials?" Kate asked.
"Ronon does not need tutoring. Maybe in Math he does, but with everything else… He's a smart guy, he just doesn't show it."
"Are you kidding me?" Kate asks.
"Nope." Teyla answers.
Teyla looks over to Ronon and Jennifer again. This time Ronon's reading the book while Jennifer eats her burger with one hand and absently feeding him fries with the other, as she stares out the window.
Yeah, everyone was surprised to see those two together at the beginning. Everyday since the party, they had started showing up and leaving school together. Teyla always waited for Kate to pick her up, so she watched Ronon start to get up and leave early to pick Jennifer up at school. And at the end of the day they would leave together. If one had something to do after class, the other patiently waited. Nobody ever saw Jennifer's bike at the bike rack anymore.
In an odd way they actually fit. He towered over her, but she managed to match his personality with her strong quiet one. She calmed him without much effort. And he listens to her. During their classes, they always sat together. And Ronon would carry both their books down the hallways of the school. And at lunch, he'd always grab a tray and pile it with food for both of them. Nobody really saw them talk. They talked but not a lot. They have this silent understanding that was very enviable. Their heads always together as if to block the whole world.
Back to the Present:
Teyla is still surreptitiously looking from Ronon to Jennifer when Amelia speaks up.
"Ronon! Hey!"
"Oh hey Amelia." Ronon says absentmindedly.
Amelia leans forward onto the table to look at Jennifer. "Jennifer, right?"
Jennifer blushes and then answers. "Uh, yeah."
"Hey." She stretches her hand out for a shake. "Amelia."
"Yes, I remember you." Jennifer says, shaking her hand.
Amelia nods her head and then looks at Ronon. "So you up for a game of football."
"That's why we're here, aren't we?" Ronon answers with a smile.
Amelia looks at Jennifer then and asks "Do you play?"
"Yeah, I've thrown the ball a few times." Jennifer says more proudly. Take that! She thinks to herself.
"Cool."
X
From the other side of the table, Marie leans over to Laura to whisper. "It's working!"
"And Amelia is doing awesome." Laura comments.
"Who's doing awesome?" Evan asks as he tries to join in the conversation.
"No one." Both girls say too quickly.
"N- what are you girls up to now?" Evan asks.
"Nothing!" Both girls say together – again.
"Nothing… nothing my ass. Wh - ?" Evan looks around the table. "Aha! You sneaky…"
"What?" Marie says innocently.
"For your sakes, I hope whatever it is that you've cooked up works. Because I'd hate to see both of them go through the hurt they've been going through for nine years all over again."
TBC.