Prom: Long, Slow, Beautiful Dance

[Beau LaRoux]

Beau hated wearing suits. He generally fell on the whole "monkey suit" line of things. That didn't mean he didn't own one, mind. You kinda had to if you wanted to perform, since not every gig would be fine with you wearing a ratty t-shirt and jeans (though Beau obviously preferred the venues with more relaxed dress codes overall). Plus, his parents had been quite insistent: every good man needed at least one good suit in his closet. So Beau wore his suit, complete with bow-tie, since, well, how could he resist that pun? He'd slicked his hair back too, feeling like he should do his best.

Only one little problem though:

Beau showed up a little... early.

He was excited, mostly. They hadn't really... talked about things since the whole kiss and protect thing, what with both having to sort of run around and get ready for graduation and, well, this. They'd both been nominated for prom court, after all, which meant a lotta work. In reality though, Beau just wanted to spend as much time with Liz as he possibly could, since he couldn't say for certain what would happen after this night. That kiss... what they'd said, what they felt... if she even felt like he did. Beau just didn't know. This whole thing was just one big mess. Except... it wasn't. that kiss had felt right, had felt natural, had felt like what they should've been doing all along. This felt right, felt natural, felt like what they should've been doing all along.

So Beau was there, a few hours before prom, dressed up, feeling like a moron as he stood outside Liz's door, knocking on things and figuring that he needed to bug her a bit before they went on down. Since, yeah, that felt... well, right and natural and all that stuff.

[Elizabeth Edison]

Elizabeth was in the midst of curling her hair when she heard a knock on her door.

Her eyes darted to the clock and wondered who it could be. Beau was supposed to come in an hour's time. It seemed that her dorm mates were not offering to answer the door so she dropped her curler on her table and switched it off before going over to the door in just her ratty hoodie and yoga pants.

Throwing the door open, she blinked when she saw that it was Beau, dressed in an immaculate suit that fit him like a glove. Her jaw dropped slightly as she took him in, unblinking. She was then reminded of the kiss they had shared and how she really, really wanted to relive it now. 

She wasn't aware of the hits he had taken but at that point, he could have a gash the size of her palm on his face and she wouldn't even notice it. It was then that she also realised that she was completely shabby compared to Beau and she almost slammed the door in his face. 

"Uh...you're...early."

[Beau LaRoux]

Beau grinned as he saw Liz's face, not quite seeming to realize that she was, in point of fact, no where near ready for the evening. It did dimly occur to Beau that girls took a lot longer than boys to get ready, and that he really should've put off the whole showing up thing till much, much later. but then he couldn't have seen that expression, and wouldn't have begun talking and saying hi before getting a door slammed in his face.

Well, that was different. Only slightly different, sure, but definitely different. Beau stared at the door for a few seconds, the shock rendering him speechless and immobile. he blinked several times. That was... different. He should've seen it coming though, what with everything he'd just spent the last paragraph thinking about and all.

"Uh, yeah," he said, shifting his feet. "Thought---uh," he rubbed his head, "wanted to spend more time with you, I guess. Make the night somethin' special," well, that much was true. Now he was feeling like an idiot though. He shifted. 'I could come back in a few hours, maybe? Would that help?" Man, was he feeling stupid now. What was it that all those songs said? Love made you stupid? Felt right about now...

[Elizabeth Edison]

Her smile softened at Beau's response before she moved to the side to let him in.

"No no. I just...I'm not ready." She tucked a lock of hair behind her ear as she hid her body behind the door, opening it wider so he could come in. "Come on in, Beau. I'll try not to be long." She gave him a small shy smile.

Things were different. She could feel it. And though she knew the kiss probably didn't mean anything to Beau, or just felt like one of those heat of the moment things, she felt different. It was going to be different, going to prom with Beau, being nominated for Queen with him nominated as King, dancing with him...

She just hoped he wouldn't think it was a bad different.

"I'll just...get into my dress." She grinned and pulled him in before closing the door and scurrying off into her room.

She left the door open just a crack so they could still talk. They had a lot of catching up to do since they hadn't been able to communicate much during the lockdown.

"Did you get hurt?" She called out as she quickly started her curling iron again.

[Beau LaRoux]

"I really can come back," said Beau, shuffling his feet and looking over his shoulder. He felt incredibly awkward right now, and he'd just realized that he'd gotten so excited that he'd left the corsage in his dorm fridge. "Don't wanna make you rush or nothin' I know how these things can be."

She was already in, and it felt rude to keep standing in the hall, so Beau followed, standing in the common area and feeling like a doofus. She pulled him closer to the door, and he wondered why the hell he was letting her. Soon he was standing in front of a slightly cracked door, catching little glimpses in the crack and telling himself that he really shouldn't be trying to get little glimpses on the crack. he thought he saw a flash of flesh and jerked away, leaning against the door, his eyes out into the common room.

"What? Yeah, jus' a little,' he said, shrugging. Just a little shot, that is, and a little traumatized, having seen people he knew die, and a little banged up, what with jumping around and saving people and doing whatever it took to keep everyone alive. Definitely not what he wanted to think about right now. "I was thinkin' we might sing a song at prom," he tried, leaning to the crack, which meant looking again for a moment (he was totally doing it to talk though), "jus' one or two. I talked about it with the committee an' all, an' nobody seemed to mind none."

[Elizabeth Edison]

"You're not rushing me. I just need to curl my hair a bit and get into my dress." She shrugged. She took pride in her appearance, which mostly meant she had been primping and prepping since two hours ago. Now were just the finishing touches. Hair curl here and there and then make up. She usually didn't do much in terms of make up anyway. Powder, lip gloss eyeliner. Anything more and she'd think she looked like a clown.

She paused when she heard Beau's response, taking in a sharp gasp of breath before biting her lower lip. The thought of him getting hurt made her insides all jumbled up. If she knew the extent of his injury...

"Oh." She responded as she did her final curl, bunching everything up in an intricate ponytail and fixing her bangs. "Yeah sure. That would be great. I was going to suggest we sing too." She smiled. On stage, she could pretend her feelings for him were just for added effect.

She kept up small talk so Beau didn't feel like a tool outside. Once she had applied her basic make up, she got rid of her hoodie and pants before rushing to change her underwear and then she stepped into her dress. It was a mint green sleeveless dress that flared under the bust. She had gotten it cheap, fortunately and she was definitely doing a bit of trimming once prom was over. It was a steal and she was going to wear it whenever possible.

"Uh...I'm coming out." She announced as she put on her shoes. One last check in the mirror, she pulled the door open and peeked out to see Beau very near the door.

Laughing out in surprise, she cleared her throat and said hi. Almost shyly, she stepped out of the room.

[Beau LaRoux]

"An' that's jus' what you'd be sayin' if I was rushin' ya," Beau pointed out. He tapped his hand against the door frame a few times, mostly because he couldn't seem to stand still for more than a few minutes (no real surprise there). His eyes kept sliding toward that crack though, especially as he thought he heard Liz gasp. That almost made him wanna go in and check, but he figured it probably had something to do with some prettifying thing he was doing. He fidgeted again, wondering if he should admit to having left the corsage in his dorm. Probably; she'd laugh about it and then let him go and get it, which would probably be the best, since there would be pictures and all...

Oh yeah, singing, they'd both want that. Awesome. Chemistry and everything. Beau found his eyes going to the door again, usually when she spoke, and he thought he caught flashes. For a moment there, he thought he saw the hoodie and pants hit the floor. Beau lingered just a moment longer than he probably should before jerking his gaze away again. Problem wasn't that he didn't want to see; problem was the he did; he wanted to ever so badly.

Coming out. "Alright, I'm ready," said Beau, pushing off the wall and turning to face. He adjusted his bow-tie (and yes, he did love that pun) and tried to look his best, only to step back as she opened the door. A hi and she stepped and...

Beau's brain shut off.
There might have been some staring involved.
But not a whole lot else.

[Elizabeth Edison]

She offered a small laugh and went to her room without saying anything else.

Walking out, she knew Beau's reaction would be positive but she hadn't banked on the staring too long. It was flattering the first five seconds, and then it made her feel absolutely shy. And then self-conscious.

"Um...you're gonna have to say something B..." she started after what seemed like a really long minute. "This is fine, right?" She asked, her voice holding a softer tone than before. More out of paranoia than anything else.

[Beau LaRoux]

"What? Yeah, you're fine.. It! It's fine," said Beau. He coughed and shifted, rubbed his head, shifted again, looked away for a moment. Then stared again. "I jus' don't think I've ever seen you look quite so pretty, that's all."

He paused for a few more seconds, letting his eyes drink in Liz, eventually caught up in looking into her eyes. He held her gaze for a few moments, blinked, and then shifted again. "Uh, we should, um, I left my corsage, yeah, I left it in the fridge, at my dorm," he turned slightly, pointing, "because I was kinda in a rush to here an' all. So we kinda need to go an' pick it up. For the pictures an' all. Though I'm thinkin' that's just tryin' to paint gold 'round a sunset at this point," he stopped to stare again, once more frozen, unable to believe that he'd managed to end up at this point. It felt... like a dream or something equally wonderful.

[Elizabeth Edison]

A smile slowly spread on her face when he finally replied. She looked down at her dress and slid a hand down the front. "Oh Beau, you say the sweetest things." She chuckled, not even realising that he had been genuine about the compliment.

When their eyes locked, Elizabeth's smile froze as her breath got caught in her throat. She wated to say something to make it less awkward but she realised that it wasn't so awkward. She liked being looked at. By Beau.

He broke the silence and she couldn't help but laugh. "Beau...where's your mind buddy?" She wrapped her arm around his shoulder and turned them around so they could leave.

"Although ya know, it's not actually that important. You could do without the corsage. You look handsome already." She said, dusting off the front of his jacket with a grin. Any thoughts of weirdness were gone. They were going to have fun, she was sure of it.

[Beau LaRoux]

Mostly looking on Beau's part, though the touch finally jolted him out of it, more or less. Enough. He blinked and looked up at her. They'd started leaving. When had they started leaving again? Beau walked anyway, moving as best he could, since his body still kinda felt all light and airy for some reason. Probably had something to do with having suddenly found himself in the midst of one his dreams or something.

"What? No, it ain't for me," he said, blinking, not entirely certain whether or not she was teasing him or not. He probably would've known better if he'd been thinking straight, but as already noticed: that was pretty much impossible to do. "It's supposed to be for you, goes on your wrist an' all," he pointed her unadorned wrist and... dang it, now he was nearly staring at her hand. Who stared at hands? "It ain't like my room's that far away; I left it in the fridge. I, uh, wanted it to be fresh," he rubbed at the back of his head, fidgeting a little and looking away for a moment, not quite moving. Could he just sound smart for a few moments here? Heck, he'd settle for sounding normal.

[Elizabeth Edison]

Elizabeth was unaware of Beau's peculiar behaviour simply because she was too wrapped up in the thought of them having fun at their last prom. She was so adamant in trying to keep things light that she was blocking out Beau's staring.

She laughed when he didn't get her joke. "For me? No silly, corsages are for the guys." She continued before pulling him in the direction of his dorm room anyway.

They bumped into a few other people who Elizabeth said hi to. It was still pretty weird that people had voted for her. And who in the world nominated her anyway? She was so sure Erika would win. She was practically the queen of the school already.

"Beau, you adorable critter. Thank you for putting in a lot of thought to this. But you have to relax. Nobody wants their King nomination to be all fidgety and uptight." She smiled and patted his shoulder before sliding her arm through his. The close contact both felt familiar and strange for some reason. But there was no way she was going to let him go.

"I'll wait for you outside while you get the corsage okay?"

[Beau LaRoux]

No, no Beau so didn't  get the joke. His brain was still focused on the incredibly beautiful girl beside him who, for some reason, kept talking like his best friend. He blinked at her, glad that he was being dragged away. He'd pretty well forgotten where he was supposed to be heading by this point. He walked in sort of a trance, continually blinking, continually not sure that this was actually happening.

It took the various people saying hi and waving that got him. Dreams generally didn't get into those kind of details, at least, Beau's didn't. He smiled and waved, warming up with each passing person that drifted on by. "King nomination, an' you know that's all it's gonna be. We'll be smilin' an' wavin' while the Bellefontes an' their mates take the crown. Or maybe that Banks girl, she was aimin' for it."

Since the school certainly wasn't going to actually vote for the two of them. Beau got to the door, paused for a moment, and looked over his shoulder at Liz. "I nominated you, ya know. Voted for ya too," he winked at her before ducking inside. It would take him a while to find the corsage, but he'd find it, still in its cheap plastic box. It wasn't a cheap corsage though: a lily, one that he'd gotten special and all. White, since he knew that was her favorite, so he was hoping that would work alright. Beau wasn't exactly great at matching colors an' all.

He came out with it, holding it up for Liz's approval, not wanting to try and just shove it on her without at least getting permission first.

[Elizabeth Edison]

"Oh please. Everyone loves you." She rolled her eyes affectionately. She sure did. "Oh who knows. You and Erika could have the royal dance." She teased with a chuckle, though let's be honest. Elizabeth didn't want anybody else dancing Beau because she wanted him all to herself the whole dang night.

She paused at the door and gawked at Beau at his little admission. "Of course it was you. How am I even surprised. You're such a jerk." She chuckled after the initial surprise wore off.

When he finally came out with the corsage, it took her awhile to get the few words in her vocabulary that resembled a sentence. "Oh my God Beau...it's beautiful." She whispered before pulling his wrist to get him closer. She threw her arms around him and hugged him tight before looking back down at the corsage.

"Musta cost ya a fortune. These are hard to come by." She said before holding out her hand. "I can't believe you remember my favourite flower. I told you that like...ages ago."

[Beau LaRoux]

Beau just grinned as Liz insisted that everyone loved him. He knew he was popular; be silly to admit otherwise. Good looking, played football, tried his darndest to get on with everyone. He just wasn't "King" potential; that went to someone else, someone who wasn't him. Just like Queen would probly go to someone who wasn't Liz.

"Ain't interested in dancin' with anybody that ain't you," Beau pointed out before ducking in. He'd return with that corsage, thrilled that he'd gotten it right. Quick hug, and she was staring down it, marveling at the price. It had, in fact, cost him quite a bit of money, but Beau could afford it. Matt had chipped in, and Beau had done his share of gigging in the past month, when he wasn't training or apparently saving the day. He slid it into her offered wrist, giving it a few tugs to make sure that it got into proper position.

"Thought it was the lily an' doublechecked with a few of your friends,' admitted Beau, giving it a pat. "They were surprised I remembered too, but I remember a lot 'bout you, Edison," he smiled at her and felt the urge to lean forward to kiss her again. Could he? Probably. But should he, that was the question. He hesitated for a few moment, feeling the moment out, trying to figure out what to do...