This changes everything (RP for get_me_a_drink)

[jmtooktheplanet]

She hadn't thought about how far reaching the consequences would be when she asked the boy (Leonard, she mentally corrected herself) to dance. Clay had just been acting like Clay, and she'd come to the conclusion that she needed to teach him a lesson. Jocelyn didn't even know who the first poor boy had been that she'd asked to dance, only that he'd passed out shortly after her question, and then she'd moved on. To Leonard. He had the most mesmerizing eyes she'd ever seen, and she was sure the look that invaded them when she held out her hand would stay with her forever. They'd danced, and somehow over the course of that song, it had become less about teaching Clay Treadway a lesson in jealousy and humility, and about enjoying herself. When the song had ended she was hesitant to see it stop, and a part of her thrilled when Leonard had asked her to stay on the floor. The feeling had lasted until Clay had punched poor Leonard without any kind of warning and tried to drag her off. She'd been angry, of course she'd been angry, and had just been on the verge of giving Clay a piece of her mind when a punch to his nose knocked him flat on his ass. A punch from Leonard, whose eyes held less in the way of malice towards Clay and more than a little bit of hopeful concern when aimed at her.

It was only thanks to sheer luck and determination on her part as well as the small crowd gathering around them that kept those punches from turning into a full out brawl. The two combatants were sent to separate corners of the room while she remained in the middle, expectation hanging heavy over her head. There was a decision that needed to be made now-- did she go home with the boy that had brought her to the dance, or did she leave with the boy that had taken on the role of her self appointed knight in shining armor? She and Clay had been an item for as long as she could remember either in action or thought. Her family had practically married her off to him while they were both still in diapers and it was something she'd just gone along with for no better reason than it had been expected of her to do so. Maybe though, just maybe, it was time for a change.

"Leonard, will you walk me home, please?"

It was as if the world stood still, and she could practically hear the collective gasp that went through the gymnasium from the group that had started paying attention to her own personal melodrama. Clay began protesting as soon as she started walking away from him, back turning on the better part of her teenage years with one simple (and extremely loaded) question.

This changes everything, she thought, but when she put her arm through Leonard's and was rewarded with a smile from him, she decided that change was for the best.

Comments

[get-me-a-drink.livejournal.com]

That man had a Helluva lot of nerve for hovering over the lady Leonard had danced with. Nevermind the fact he was her boyfriend, she had done nothing more than asked Leonard for a dance and he had no right to be overly defensive and agressive towards her. And she wasn't just a her; that was Jocelyn Darnell, a girl Leonard had had a crush on for Lord knows how long. Since he moved out to Savannah, at least, though he was sure he was completely invisible to him. Being asked for a dance was unlike anything he'd ever expected he would receive, and naturally, he was thrilled to do so.

So now he stood, fuming at the other corner of the room, thoughts too focused on the past five minutes to dwell in self-pity. He wanted to go back and break the rest of that man, no, that boy's face, (even if it would likely have resulted in him getting every bone in his body broken first), but when he heard a voice akin to every cool summer night in Georgia speak up, he turned and smiled to his fair lady.

"Why, I would love to do that, Miss Jocelyn." Said Leonard. And so it went to show that it's not always brute strength and aggression that won out in the end. Leonard was glad he held both his tongue and his ground. He ignored the stares of the gymnasium, ignoring the surprised eyes of the world around him and took her hand lightly in his.

He had no idea what this changed, or the gravity of the offer she had just proposed, but he did know that the twisting feelings of anger in his gut were gone in favor of a light, floaty feeling in the root of his being. Leonard led Jocelyn outside, green eyes never averting from the girl who he was walking home. Jesus wept, I don't think I've ever met someone more beautiful.

See, Leonard McCoy might have known better in many regards, he understood that life wasn't necessarily about miracles and happy endings, and that sometimes you didn't always get the hand you wanted. He of all people, with a dead mother and a tough (Read: Borderline abusive) father, could slap himself in the face with a good dose of reality when he needed to. But right now, and maybe for just a moment, as the cool breeze whistled through the peach trees, he thought everything might just turn out alright in the end.

[jmtooktheplanet.livejournal.com]

His hand is warm and soft over hers, and she can't quite explain the way she's feeling as they walk. Her trepidation has vanished the farther away they've gotten from the school, and a peaceful feeling she's not quite sure she understands has settled over her. This is simple. Easy. It feels... right.

Each gust of the breeze brings the smell of peach blossoms on it, and something more. She takes a deep breath so she can catch more of it, delighted when she realizes the scent she's catching belongs to Leonard. It's not like the cologne that Clay insisted on bathing himself in. She's not even sure it's cologne at all. All she knows is that it's something she likes, and she edges closer to him shyly.

Jocelyn has a million thoughts running through her mind with each second that passes. With someone else she's sure the silence might be awkward, but it doesn't feel that way with Leonard. It's comfortable. Again she can't help but compare him to Clay, with Clay's constant need to hear himself speak because he was so infatuated with the sound of his own voice. She pauses when they reach the bench under the streetlight. Her house is only around the corner now and she's not quite ready to call it a night.

"Wait, if you don't mind. I was hoping you might want to sit for a little while if you don't have somewhere else you need to be."