Engaged

Chapter 7

A week later, Iain knocked on Elizabeth's door, wondering if she really was going to have an initial decision that day, and more importantly, if it would be him.

He'd told her at lunch the day after their last date that it really didn't matter if she told him anything this week or not, and that was true, but since she had insisted again that she was going to tell him something this week, it had been all he could think about for the past few days. And it wasn't so much that he actually needed her to tell him which way she was leaning, it was simply that if she wasn't going to tell him yet, he needed her to tell him that, so he would know and could stop being so tense and nervous for something that wasn't going to happen. Or else just tell him whatever her thoughts were already so he'd just know, whether they were good or bad for him. After all, waiting really was often worse than whatever it was you were waiting on.

But he wasn't about to tell her any of that, or demand any kind of answer from her if she didn't want to give it or before she wanted to give it, so he kept his nervous feelings to himself all throughout supper, trying to carry on as normal of a conversation with her as he could so she wouldn't realize the suspense he was in and feel any pressure to say anything before she was ready.

Once supper was over and dishes were put away, Elizabeth went and sat on her couch, looking at Iain expectantly for him to join her, clearly having something she was ready to say. So Iain joined her on the couch, and waited for her to speak.

After a second, Elizabeth took a deep breath and began, "I'm sorry for taking so long tonight to say this, but I didn't want there to be any potential distractions when I did, and to be perfectly honest, I'm more than just a little nervous to actually put this out in the open for someone besides myself to know."

At this last bit, Iain's hopes soared, before he quickly shoved them back down so he wouldn't be completely crushed if he'd misunderstood what she meant by that. But outwardly he merely continued looking at her patiently, waiting for her to continue when she was ready.

"Iain — I think I'm going to choose you. Chloe said that as long as I honestly believed it could happen, I should go with the person I would prefer spending the rest of my life with, the person I would prefer be the father of my children, which is you, Iain. And I know we will have a challenging road ahead of us, and there are no guarantees at this early of a point, but I do honestly believe we have a real chance to work out, and if I knew both options could work out, you would be the one I'd rather spend the rest of my life with. So unless something changes, I will break up with my fiancé and start dating you — once it's been long enough, of course."

As soon as she said 'I think I'm going to choose you', Iain's heart soared out of his chest with joy. But as he knew it wasn't a final decision, and certainly wasn't her actually breaking up with her fiancé and starting to date him, he kept it inside of him as best he could. He was sure he was quivering with happiness so much that she could tell from where she was sitting next to him how excited he was without his having to say anything, but that was involuntary and couldn't be helped. Anyway, it would be good for her to know how much he liked her decision, even if it was best he not actually say it out loud, as it was just a preliminary decision and he didn't want to put any unnecessary pressure on her. So he merely nodded as solemnly as he could, before a question he'd been wanting to ask for months came back into his mind, and he decided it was finally an okay time to ask it.

"Lil, you know I'm beyond happy with that being the direction you're leaning, and you can probably feel that radiating off me, as I feel like I'm about to burst from trying not to let any of it out and therefore put undue pressure on you should you end up wanting to change your mind, but it does make me have to ask — as I'm sure you haven't just stopped talking to your fiancé altogether during these past several months, is he at all suspicious that anything is going on behind his back? And tonight isn't the first time I've wondered that, I just haven't been bold enough to ask it before now."

"You could have asked, I wouldn't have minded," said Elizabeth lightly. "But to answer your question — No. I don't think so. Which kind of makes me feel even worse about all this, in a weird way — I guess in the fact that I can pull all this off without him ever suspecting it. Now, I have stopped talking to him on the phone quite as often, blaming it on a hectic final season of filming, which isn't a lie, and just texting him a little more than I previously did to partially make up for it, so I have kind of limited the opportunities that he could suspect something is wrong, other than just noticing that I don't talk to him quite as much in general. But best as I know, he isn't suspicious of a thing."

Iain nodded, before saying, "Well, like I said I am certainly happy about where you're leaning, but I don't actually know what the proper thing for me to do or say now is."

Elizabeth chuckled lightly. "Yeah — I don't ether, to be honest. But I just wanted you to know what I was thinking, so it's fine for you not to say anything and us just to find something on the telly to watch and spend the rest of our evening like we always do."

So that is what they quickly did, neither of them bringing up her initial decision again until Elizabeth flipped off the telly when Iain yawned and said it was really time he ought to be heading home.

At which point she straightened up from where she'd been curled into his side and said, "Before you go, there is one last question I need to ask you before I can begin making my final decision."

"Of course. What is it?" asked Iain.

Turning to face him and taking both of his hands in hers, much the same way Fitz had Simmons' in Atarah's mind prison, Elizabeth asked solemnly, "Iain De Caestecker — if I break up with my fiancé, will you promise to start dating me as soon as everything's blown over enough that we feel like it's safe to do so?"

"Absolutely, Lil," answered Iain equally solemnly.

"Then give me a week or two to make sure I'm as positive as I can be that this is the right decision, and if I still am then I will tell you, and I will break up with my fiancé as soon as I get back from filming. And we will go from there."