From: ScullyK8@aol.com Date: Sun, 12 Sep 1999 11:33:23 EDT Subject: Dinner Date Source: direct Title: Dinner Date Author: Kate G. Rating: PG, a little swear here and there Summary: There was an iced tea in that bag...now what? This story Takes place between Milagro and The Unnatural. Spoilers: Small ones for Red Museum and Milagro Classification: UST, MSR Feedback: Ah, the way to this author's heart! Mail to ScullyK8@aol.com Authors notes: Thanks to all those who sent feedback! Disclaimer: I don't own Mulder and Scully, they are WAY too high-maintenance for me! Note: This is the third in the 'Meal Series'. The first two stories are Lunch Break and Late Lunch. You should probably read those for this to make any sense. This picks up where Late Lunch left off. Xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx Dinner Date Kate G. July 1999 "Must be fate, Scully...iced tea." Scully slowly opened her eyes to see Mulder staring at her and grinning like a fool. She felt her hand leave the iced tea bottle quickly, like the cold bottle suddenly had burned her fingers. she thought in her head, Mulder's eyes still drilling into hers. "Okay Scully, you pulled the iced tea! You know what that means...must be love. I mean, it's love if that's what you want it to be..." he died off, looking suddenly embarrassed. She noticed that his eyes had left hers and were now focused somewhere near the iced tea bottle. Gathering all the strength that she could muster after this little game of theirs, she ran her hands up and down along her pants nervously. She could taste blood where her teeth bit into her cheek. "No, no Mulder...it's... love, but I don't want to talk about it right now, okay? Not here, later, after work." "That's fine with me Agent Scully." "Okay then, let's get back to the office before anyone notices that we are gone," she said, standing to walk back to the Hoover building. "We'll eat our late lunch back there." "Whatever you want, Scully." Scully stood up and crossed the sidewalk from the bench they had been sitting at to the sunny side closest to the Reflecting Pool. Stopping at the edge of the pool she waited for Mulder to gather up the lunch bags and cross over the sidewalk to meet her. The leaves on the tress beside her began to rustle as a crisp wind blew threw them. Even standing in the sun she was chilly. Or maybe she was going into shock from what had just happened on the bench. "You cold, Scully?" "Huh?" "I said are you cold? You were shivering just now." "Um, yeah, but I'll be"- before she could say anymore he had put down their lunches on the ground and had taken off his jacket and placed it over her shoulders. He picked up the bags and held them all in one hand. His other arm snaked up and came to rest across her shoulders. Her body gave an involuntary shiver. "Are you sure you're okay, you are still shivering," he squeezed his hand on her bicep. "Yeah, I'm fine Mulder, just fine, " she assured him giving a little smile as she turned away and looked at the path of trees I n front of her. XxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxX Back at the office they both ate silently, each contemplating their own thoughts. After lunch all the rest of the paper work was done silently as well. At four o'clock Mulder started eyeing Scully nervously, wanting to say something, but chickening out every time. Fifteen minutes rolled by with him staring at her. After another twenty minutes of this Scully was sure that she had had enough of it. "Mulder, is there something that you would like to say to me? If not, please stop staring so I can concentrate on this expense report!" "Uh, yeah, Scully would you like to go"- just then there was a knock on the door and they both shouted, "What?" Skinner's secretary, Kimberly pushed the door open slowly, unsure if the agents were angry with her. "Um, Agents Mulder and Scully, A.D. Skinner wanted me to drop off this paperwork before I left for home. He said that he needs it first thing in the morning." She dropped a huge stack of papers in files onto the desk, feelings bad about it as she saw their faces fall. "Sorry, have a good night, see you in the morning," she told them as she walked quickly out the door, it shut behind her. They both just stared at the stack in dismay. "Mulder, we have been here since six o'clock this morning," Scully whispered. "I know, and it looks like we may be here to see the sunrise," he groaned, burying his face in his hands. "Come on, let's get started. The sooner that we finish this, the sooner we can talk about...let's just get started" Dinnertime came and went. They barely heard most of the other agents leaving for home for the night. Halfway through the pile of files Scully left the desk to turn on the overhead light, it was now dark in the basement office. She seemed to do it without thinking and quickly started back to work. What felt like a hundred hours later Mulder looked up from the paperwork, rubbed his eyes and checked his watch. He was stunned to see that it was almost eleven! Where had the time gone? He looked up further to tell Scully that they should call it a night, but when he brought his head up the whole way he was surprised to find her asleep. Her arm was sprawled out in front of her with her head laying on its side resting on the upperarm. He stole a moment to admire her sleepy features and then stood to wake her. His movements must have been enough though and she jerked awake with a gasp, "Padgett!" "Hey, Scully," he cried, rushing to her side. "It's okay, no Padgett here. Just me." "Mulder, I'm sorry. I didn't mean to fall asleep," she told him, appearing to forget already about Padgett. "How far did we get on the paperwork? And how long was I asleep?" "Well, we are about three-fourths of the way through the pile, almost done. As for sleeping, I have no idea. Could have been minutes, could have been hours. For once, I was actually working." He shot her a grin as she stood and straightened her suit jacket. "Scully, if you want to go home and get some sleep, I can finish the paperwork. I promise no late night runs to the adult video store and no pencil whipping contests. Or we could..." His voice faded into the room and Scully couldn't hear him anymore. "What did you say, Mulder? I didn't catch the last part after the pencil whipping contest." "I said, um, or we could go to get something to eat. Would you go to dinner with me, Scully?" "You mean right now? Like...a date?" "Yes! A date," he said after she supplied him with the word he had been looking for. "That is exactly what I mean. Right now, why not?" He started to gather up his things. "Okay, why not? I would really like to go to dinner...on a date with you." "I know a great Italian place just around the block that is open until one," he told her, placing his hand on the small of her back, ushering her out of the office. He shut off the lights and closed and locked the door behind him, leaving the rest of the work until morning. XxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxX During the walk to the restaurant neither of them spoke. This was becoming a disturbing habit between them, Mulder thought and he tried to think of something to say to break the tension. "I see you remembered your jacket this time." "Yup." "No chance of getting cold then?" "Nope," she replied, wondering what he was getting at. "Darn, now I don't have an excuse to put my arm around you." He told her, putting a pout on his lips. "Mulder, you don't need an excuse to do that," she stopped and looked up at him as his eyebrows shot up to the top of his forehead, "you never have." She slipped her hand in his and they walked the rest of the way holding hands. his mind played over and over again. XxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxX Inside the restaurant they were seated at a tiny table near in the corner of the room. They had almost complete privacy. Mulder helped Scully with her jacket and held her chair out for her. "Why, Mulder, you have never done that for me before." "That's because we've never been out on a date before." "So, Date Mulder and Normal Mulder are two different guys?" She asked taking a look at her menu. "Oh, definitely. And you haven't seen anything yet." "Can't wait," she said breathlessly, staring him straight in the eyes. her mind played over and over. During dinner Mulder was different than he usually was. He let her order first and he stood when she left the table to wash her hands and then stood again when she came back. He engaged her in interesting conversation during the wait for their food and he even surprised her by asking about her fondest childhood memories. But the biggest shock of all came late in the meal. While she was telling him about her grandparents he reached across the table and wiped something off of the corner of her mouth. "Tomato sauce," he told her. She had a sudden flashback and commented on it. "So, I HAVE seen Date Mulder before. But was it a date back then?" she asked him, one eyebrow raised. "Yeah, I think you may have seen him once or twice. But, no, it wasn't a date back then. Although I wish I would have had the nerve to ask back then." The waiter came and took their plates and asked if either would be getting dessert. "No, thank you, just the check please." He left and Scully looked at Mulder closely. "Why didn't you ask me before? Why did you wait until tonight?" "Ask you out? I dunno, Scully. I was scared that it wasn't the right time, I was scared that you would reject me. I was scared period. All I know is that tonight was the right night to ask. Are you glad that I did?" "Definitely," she said without hesitation, reaching across the table to take his hand again. The waiter came back with the check and Mulder handed him his credit card. "Come on, Scully, they are about to close. We should get back to the building." The waiter brought his card back and Mulder stuffed it in his wallet and helped Scully with her coat again. Outside the restaurant Mulder took Scully's hand without asking and held on to it firmly. He pressed his fingers through hers so that they were wound tightly together. He used his advantage to pull her close to him as they walked. "Getting awfully brave, aren't we Agent Mulder?" "Yes, and while I am still brave I have to ask you something. When you said that it was love before, were you being serious or were you just trying to get me off your back?" Stopping in her tracks she stood directly in front of him, still holding his hand. "Oh, I was being serious. Completely. I wouldn't joke about something like that, not to you." "So, it's love, since when, and why didn't you tell me before?" "When? Maybe from the beginning, I don't know for sure," she said using her free hand to reach up and stroke his cheek. "Why didn't I tell you? Maybe I was scared that you would laugh in my face and make some stupid innuendo. I don't know. All I know is that today was the right day to tell you," she said grinning at him, using his words against him. "Scully, can I confess something to you?" He asked, reaching his free hand to press her cheek. "Yeah, sure, okay," she said quietly, suddenly looking panicked. "I love you." He saw her face relax and a small smile form. Tears welled up in her eyes. He leaned his lips close to the side of her mouth and kissed her where the tomato sauce had been before, tasting it on his lips. He saw her eyes close and reopen slowly. "I know you do, Mulder," she whispered quietly, like someone might hear. "I do too. I love you." She stood on her tiptoes and kissed his mouth in the same spot where he had just kissed hers. She pulled back and sighed, a small moan escaping her lips as his hand wound up to the back of her neck and stroked softly before pulling her close. "I think that I always have, Scully," he whispered in her ear before leaning in and kissing her lips directly. Their kiss lasted several long moments until several people from the restaurant walked by, on their way home. They pulled apart quickly and started walking again, Mulder still gripping her hand tightly. Scully's head resting on his shoulder now. At the parking garage in the Hoover building he dropped Scully's hand and walked her to her car. "Good-night Agent Scully," he said standing next to her at the driver's side door. At her questioning glance he whispered, "I want to kiss you again, but do we really need the cameras picking that up?" He grabbed her hand and gave it a quick squeeze. "No, your absolutely right," she replied as he walked two spaces down to his car. Just as she opened her door to get in she heard him call to her "I'll see you in the morning, Agent Scully." She threw a wicked smirk his way and called back, "Maybe before then, Agent Mulder." She closed her door and drove away. xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx To be concluded in the next story, "Midnight Snack", see you all then! Hope you enjoyed this one!