Prom: Long, Slow, Beautiful Dance

[Elizabeth Edison]

Had he shared his views on their royal potentials, Elizabeth would have agreed one hundred percent. She was sure the only person who voted for her was Beau and maybe Erika and Charlie. Who knew if even they voted? She wasn't even close to being as popular as Beau. Furthermore, she hadn't even campaigned for herself so really, there was just no way she could win.

Although she rolled her eyes at Beau's reassurance that he wasn't going to dance with anybody else but her, Elizabeth was pretty much soaring through the roof. She of course had to force herself to bring herself down because it was Beau. Those kinds of words just fell out of his mouth like rain water.

She was so flattered that the boy had put a lot of effort into this one small thing. To her, it made a huge impact and difference for sure. She couldn't help but look up at him as he slid the corsage carefully up wrist.

There was a clear hesitation on Beau's part that Elizabeth didn't quite understand but as she looked at him, a strong urge to kiss him started creeping up on her, making her a little out of breath.

She couldn't. Not yet. Prom had to be fun from start to finish. What if she kissed him now and he says something awful like: "That was just one time." or "I only like you as a friend." ? No. She couldn't risk it. They had to start and end on a good note.

Forcing a smile, she linked her arms with his and she pulled him to where prom was being held. "Come on dude. We don't wanna be late for our last prom do we?" She kept her tone cheery as they walked. Fun. That's what they should have.

[Beau LaRoux]

The moment left, and Beau found himself smiling, almost relieved to find that it had passed them by without doing any real damage. He chuckled as Liz linked their arms, moving to give hers a little squeeze. He wrapped her hand in his, bringing it up to lightly kiss her fingertips for the moment. That he could certainly do; been doing variations of it for years, just part of his charming, Southern persona, really.

"Last prom?" repeated Beau. He started walking regardless, making sure to set a pace that was easy for Liz to match. The girl could keep up with Beau the vast majority of the time, but formal wear certainly favored males when it came to comfort and maneuverability. "Like we ain't gonna show up to our kids' prom," drawled Beau. "I end up with a daughter an' she's gonna find that Daddy's done chaperoned her," Beau also didn't mention that he thought his kid sister might be a mutant too. he certainly wasn't going to let her attend prom without a chaperone, especially given most of the guys around here.

Heading down to the gym was fairly easy. they passed by several people who recognized them, most giving compliments to how the couple looked. Beau did the smile and wave thing, answered a few questions (mostly involving whether they were playing and what Beau had done to get the pretty blonde to actually go with him). "Is it horrible that I'm gettin' all worked up for this?" he asked as they drew close to the doors. "Almost feel as nervous as I did when those troopers were comin' in..." he trailed off there, licking his lips, realizing that he'd entered bad territory for a moment. He gave Liz another smile and wink though, wanting to just pass it all off for what it was; a moment in time, albeit one that still haunted Beau ,and he wasn't just thinking of the pangs in his side.

[Elizabeth Edison]

A tingle ran down her bare arms when Beau kissed her hand. Sure, he did a lot of that and variations of it, but it always felt like it was the first time. Had she known it was going to be this hard falling for her best friend, she would have stopped herself a long time ago.

She felt her heart skip when Beau said 'our kids'. Of course, she shouldn't have thought twice about it. It was just a stupid expression. And Beau proved that with his following statement. Of course he didn't mean their mutual kids. Wow, she was getting way ahead of herself.

"She's gonna hate you for that, best believe it." Elizabeth forced a chuckle out after her sentence and turned to him with a grin.

The people they met on the way to the gym sort of drove home the fact that they weren't together. But it wasn't something Elizabeth was too bothered by. At least not that she showed it. Besides, she was just excited to go to prom with her best friend. Who spent time getting ready for her. And got her favourite flower as a corsage. And asked her way before anybody else did. And who she kissed just a few weeks ago.

Turning to him when he admitted his anxieties, Elizabeth squeezed his arm, sliding her hand up and down reassuringly. "No comparison, LaRoux. Besides...you've got me now. Anyone dare try anything on you, I ain't gon' hesitate to burn them." She snapped her finger of her free hand and immediately a flame erupted in the middle of her palm. "And if you want to do it yourself, you can just steal off me." She shrugged with a grin following right after.

But as much as she was trying to keep things light, she knew she wouldn't be able to ever empathize with Beau. She wouldn't know what had happened and how scared Beau must have felt. She couldn't offer much but her humor. Keep his mind off things by laughing at how lame she was.

When they entered the gym, Elizabeth could practically feel her heartbeat in her ear. "Oh my God. Wow. Wow." She turned to Beau and grinned widely. "Okay, guaranteed fun. Come on." She pulled him in, immediately going to the middle of the dancefloor.

[Beau LaRoux]

The squeeze and the reassuring arm did their work, and then some. Stranger still, the words helped, Beau feeling the tension oozing free as Liz mentioned fighting for him. "I oughta be claimin' to defend you," he pointed out, just as he had when they'd defended. Except this was Liz: she was a firecracker. Isn't that what you wanted in someone though? Someone willing to fight for you, or at least fight with you? Strangely, Beau could picture that all too well, Liz standing next to him, the two facing off against some kind of incoming threat. Would he have been more at ease if she'd been on the security team? Probably not. But she might have.

They entered the gym, and the noise and environment wiped out all Beau's gloomy thoughts. He could practically feel Liz's heart skipping. "Yeah, we went all out," he agreed, because of course he'd been on the prom committee and volunteered to help with decorations and the like. Easy for him to do, given that he was pretty strong for his size and able to borrow any useful powers that happened to be floating in the air. Beau glanced around, recognizing that there were a few other people already here early, though they mostly had the place to themselves.

"Fun? Ain't like most of the folks are gonna be here for a few hours yet," Beau said. Didn't stop him from following Liz. He sighed and gave her a squeeze. "though I guess that bein' 'round you is always a blast. Heck, I even enjoyed gettin' up at the crack a dawn an' bikin', so this oughta be a regular hootenanny."

[Elizabeth Edison]

"You did that already, B." Elizabeth stated simply. The fact that she couldn't see any scars on him did not change that fact. "Can't let you have all the glory." She teased, though glory was the last thing she was thinking of getting when it came to defending the security of the place she called home.

Turning to Beau at his statement, Elizabeth shook her head and patted his cheek mock condescendingly. "When have we depended on other people for our own brand of fun?" She asked with her head tilted to the side. "Exactly!" She interjected when the dance was called a hootenanny. "Now dance with me Mr Prom King Nominee." She chuckled as she extended her hand out to him.

For the most part, Elizabeth didn't even dance to the songs that were being played over the speakers. She decided early on that she wasn't going to let Beau's looks under the slightly dimmed lights distract her from dancing. Bt every glance his way still had her heart thumping like a percussion.

[Beau LaRoux]

"True, we're supposed to be a duo," agreed Beau. He wanted to smile or chuckle at the thought, the whole carrying over their musical pairing into something else. But it fit, fit too well, fit like, well, this did. The pat got his attention though, reminding him of his own party pooper comment.

"Guessin' I should probly get my dancin' in while I still got a shot," he agred, taking her hand and following her out onto the floor. She looked way too good under these lights, and he found his mind wandering. Fortunately, several gigs had left Beau well trained in still operating while his mind was off staring at a gir. Heck, he even had practice starin' at Liz.

"While I don't wanna leave you alone fora minute, I do got a few friends I kinda promised I'd 'least say hi too," Beau admitted, taking up Liz's hands. Why even mention it? Was he sabotaging himself? Kinda felt like it. "So jus' be ready for me to glare at whichever guy," he paused, then shrugged, "or gal," and no, thinking that did not make him feel any more comfortable, "is dancin' with you at the time. Jus' gotta learn to share."

and every word said that was the farthest thing from Beau's want.

[Elizabeth Edison]

"Best one after the Wonder Twins." She added before chuckling. "'Cept we're not siblings." And hopefully their relationship would never come to that status. Ever.

Agreeing wholeheartedly at his statement, her grip on his hand tightened as they spent a while on the dance floor. She had to repeatedly remind herself that he had invited her as his best friend and nothing else.

When Beau spoke up about friends, Elizabeth almost whined a little. Stopping herself in the nick of time, she nodded and shrugged. "Ditto. They better just be friends Beau." She narrowed her eyes, forcing herself to laugh. "And here I thought I was your only friend. How silly of me." She chuckled.

[Beau LaRoux]

"I woulda gone for June an' Johnny myself," replied Beau, shrugging. He wasn't entirely certain that Liz would pick up on a reference to the classic country pairing of Johnny and June Cash, though Beau had certainly talked about them before (had talked about a lotta people though, so who knew what would stick). The dance floor felt nice, right, just like everything else around Liz. They didn't even really need music, though that made sense: the two certainly had enough within them.

Just friends, Beau almost rolled his eyes, hearing the laugh and the last comment. He looked seriously at her, reaching up to stroke her chin again for a moment. "You're the only one I asked," he told her, dead serious. Though she'd had to have known that, seeing as he'd practically sprinted to her door the moment he'd found out about prom. He smiled at her, looking to her lips for a moment. Time wasn't right though, but it felt almost painful now, dressed like they were, standing where they were, doing what they were doing.

"Did I mention how pretty you look tonight?" he asked, lowering his hand, smiling. "Ain't really fair. I ain't ever gonna look half as pretty," yes, comments and joking flirtations, also known as the safe zone.

[Elizabeth Edison]

At the mention of the Cash couple, Elizabeth grinned and started humming the chorus of "Walk the Line". "You're right. June and Johnny are a better metaphor. But hey, we're talking about taking care of each other with our powers." She wiggled her fingers to point out what she was saying. "And last I heard, June and Johnny weren't exactly meta. Unless their abilities were to make beautiful music and to sway emotions." Elizabeth chuckled.

It kind of grew a little too hot for Elizabeth when Beau looked at her with her chin in his hand. Her body seemed to instinctively move forward, closer to him as though that were even possible given their already close proximity. Her eyes moved up to his, noting how his were drawn downwards.

She gulped inaudibly, forcing herself not to move her head closer. They were already in the most advantageous position to kiss. Elizabeth wanted it so badly and if she were to lie to herself, she would also say Beau looked like he wanted it too.

But he broke the moment. Well, he didn't break it so much as make things a lot more difficult for her not to realise that this was a friend date, not a date date. Beau was not into her the same way she was into him. Not when she knew he treated other girls the same way he treated her.

"It's the lighting. And you'll get there. Just rouge your cheeks a little." She joked, forcing laughter before moving away from him. "So how about those friends you have to go say hi to? Are they here yet?"

[Beau LaRoux]

"Hey, they coulda had some cool hidden mutant powers," insisted Beau, grinning at the thought of the two country singers having some cool ability. In truth, they were a pair that Beau couldn't help but admire just on their own merit. he wanted that kind of relationship, that supportive love that also let you tease and flirt with the other person even years after you'd said the vows. Though, come to think of it, he supposed that swaying emotions should totally count as some kind of power, in the long run of things.

Weird, but he could've sworn that he'd done some emotion swaying of his own. Looked like Liz wouldn't have minded another kiss there. Could... could she actually like him in the same way he liked her? Beau wondered for a moment, wondered if he should just ask if this should count as a real first date or something. Felt like a good idea, but was it a selfish one? Or did Beau just want to be selfish?

Joking, flirting, did Liz understand that this was part of what he wanted, part of what made him want her. She didn't make things uncomfortable, played right along, joked and played. "Screw 'em," he said, pulling her again, "I'm with you for now," he insisted, swallowing. He couldn't recall actually dismissing his friends like that. He looked at Liz again, pausing again. He slid his hands back into position, moving to dance. Just... say something, he could almost feel the pressure. People were arriving now though, so there was that. People he recognized, even, though he was doing exactly what he said:

his eyes were only on Liz, his attention so focused that, well, he looked almost like the hero of a song.

[Elizabeth Edison]

"Actually, I don't really doubt that." She chuckled, pondering over who else in the history of legends were actually mutants.

When Beau responded to her query, she wasn't actually anticipating or even hoping for the answer he provided. All the same, it made her sort of giddy that he was willing to ditch people just for her. It was hella selfish for sure but she could afford to be every once in a while.

Especially when it came to Beau.

Her smile was a little hard to contain so she turned her face away from Beau and rested her cheek on his. Yeah, he was with her for now.

She didn't know how long the dance lasted but she became aware of a lot more people streaming in and it sort of broke the spell a bit.

Moving away from Beau, she chuckled sheepishly at him as her eyes roamed the room. "Where did these people come from?"

[Beau LaRoux]

The dance took them for a while. There were those moments that people write songs about, where everything else falls away for a moment and the world just becomes you. Yes, they were mostly the mind playing tricks, emotion heightening the experience as only emotion could manage. But that didn't make them any less real, any less a moment that you'd look back on and wish you could forever hold in your mind, in a photograph, in your arms again. Liz and Beau had moments like that all the time, which is why Beau craved Liz as much as she craved him. Probably also why they both seemed so scared to make the first move and break what they already had.

For that dance, they were each others and nothing else mattered. They moved, they swayed, they took in the world and did what two teenagers who were, let's face it, in love did with one another. Beau didn't even notice the other people until Liz spoke, and he looked up, blinking in surprise.

"Got me," he admitted, looking back at Liz and grinning sheepishly, "kinda got lost in the dance for a minute there." Which so sounded like a song. Beau could already feel the lyrics spinning in his mind, and he chuckled now, shaking his head. "I'm always thinkin' up lyrics 'round you, Liz. Gonna have to keep you close," he added a wink, looking about. Some friends, a couple of guys from the football team, a few of Liz's friends, noticed, all in different groups, and Beau found himself sighing and waving. Punishment of being popular and in public.

"Gonna have to be all social now," he said, sighing, "which kinda sucks. Was enjoyin' havin' you all to myself," he smiled at Liz then, without thinking, leaned down to lightly kiss her cheek. He didn't know why he didn't aim for her lips, probably because he couldn't destroy the moment. But his lips touched her, and it felt.. right.

[Elizabeth Edison]

Elizabeth was also feeling exactly what Beau felt, without actually knowing he was feeling it too. She kept trying to convince herself that this was a friend date. It couldn't be anything more. Even if the moment felt a lot more intimate than a friendship was supposed to provide.

She chalked it up to the familiarity between the two teenagers. This wasn't the first time Elizabeth felt like this around Beau. She always thought it was one-sided. Or rather she convinced herself that it was because Beau wasn't secretive about his prowess with the ladies. She wasn't bitter, it was just how Beau was.

And despite that, she adored him. So much so that in that moment, she wished she could just kiss him and that was that. She didn't care if he didn't kiss back. She wouldn't care if he pushed her away. But somehow, she still had hope that he would pull her close, and kiss her back. With just as much want and need that she felt.

When Beau started speaking, Elizabeth chuckled and shrugged. "I'm glad I'm not the only one. Although I'm a lot more into matching songs to moments than actually writing them. I mean I've got a few stuff lined up but it's always more established song matching than anything. It counts right?" She chuckled before a forced smile came to her lips.

The kiss got her tightening her fingers around the lapel of his jacket before she smoothed it out, patting it as she sent him off. "Mr. Popularity. And you are so confident you won't win court. Puh-leese." She rolled her eyes and crossed her arms over her chest with a smirk. "Go be social. I'll raid the buffet table." She said, forcing herself to turn and walk over to the buffet table, searching for some food. It was only then that she actually felt hungry.

How these things seemed so trivial when she was around Beau.

[Beau LaRoux]

No, Liz definitely wasn't the only one. Strange though, but Beau thought he saw something in that smile, something... not quite natural. She still had the same pretty smile as always, the expression that warmed Beau's hot the way being near her did his body (advantage of picking up a pyrokinetic's power, yo). Yet it looked... off for a moment. And he thought he felt her stiffening when he'd leaned in to peck her on the cheek.

Beau rolled his eyes at the suggestion. "You jus' don't want me to see you piggin' out. Like I ain't seen it before,' he replied, moving to give her a slight poke on her stomach. Beau knew full well that Liz's metabolism had been ratcheted up several degrees by her power. He got the same way from time to time, and had to remind himself to watch it, because his metabolism would return to normal when he left her. Unlike certain other parts of him, which always seemed a bit off.

Beau did as suggested though, peeling away from Liz, though he kept his eye on her while he went through the various groups. Say hello to the football buddies, yeah the decorations look great. Liz? Yeah, they were there. Dating? Nah, just as friends. Suuuure. Over to some musician friends. Good music. You two playing? Yeah. You guys here as a couple? Nope, friends. Couples kiss, man, friends don't, and have you seen-- Look, there was someone else.

And Beau kept looking over at Liz. Naturally she had people too; people liked her, especially since she wasn't quite as flashy as some of her friends (Erika came to immediate mind). Beau couldn't help but tense as some people drifted toward her though, especially at least one guy he knew didn't mind flirting with any girl who happened to look halfway pretty. Beau's chest tightened up then, and he felt the sudden, overwhelming urge to head for the table and get a drink. Of course, some strange girl dressed in yellow frills and laughing got in his way, and there was just no easy getting around her..

[Elizabeth Edison]

"Me? Pigging out? You've got the wrong girl, sir." Elizabeth tried to keep a straight face but failed miserably. "Whatever, go do your duties." She stuck her tongue out as she watched him leave.

A few people came up to her to say hi and congratulate her on her nomination. She thanked them all, saying that she didn't really expect the nomination at all. It was true though. But then again, Beau was the one who nominated her so it wasn't exactly anything to go by. The guy just relished on torturing her any way he knew how.

Some of the people who went up to her mentioned how excited they were that she and Beau were performing. Elizabeth was estatic that their radio performances have gotten a bit of a buzz especially coming up to prom.

Though Beau was surrounded by his people, Elizabeth did not take her eyes off him, even as people started flirting with her. Some asked if Beau had finally ditched her and some not even caring that she had come with him. She was getting a little antsy not being with him, making her feel slightly uncomfortable at her dependency on her best friend.

When she saw Beau looking her way, she held a hand up in a small wave, pretty much ignoring Kevin Russo who was trying his best to capture her attention.