F is for Forever

Written By: Ashley

Rating: PG

Time Frame: About 11 years after the series ended

Disclaimer: Scarecrow and Mrs. King is the property of Warner Brothers and Shoot the Moon Enterprises. This story is for entertainment purposes only. No infringement of rights is intended.

Author's Notes: This is brought to you by the letter 'F' in response to the Alphabet Challenge. Feedback is welcome. I hope you like it!


Philip glanced around the bar from his seat in the corner. It was Friday night and in the past hour the room had become a bit crowded. His gaze finally came to rest on the woman sitting across from him and he sighed. He had asked her here so they could talk, but they had barely said five words to each other. Now there was music playing, people talking and laughing and he
didn't think he would be able to hear her anyway.

She met his gaze and smiled, her blue eyes sparkling, amused she had caught him staring.

"What?" she asked.

He leaned close to her. "Lizzie," he paused, "wanna get outta here, go for a walk?" His breath tickled her cheek.

"Yeah" she breathed and nodded her head. Philip stood up and headed for the door, Liz followed close behind.

As soon as they stepped outside, Philip reached for Liz's hand. She felt a warmth spread through her body from his touch. It felt so right just being with him, but she had pushed him away so many times in the past, knowing eventually he would leave her, just like everyone else had. Recently, Philip had stopped pushing back and those fears had drifted farther and farther from
her mind with each time he reached for her hand or gazed deeply into her eyes and smiled that devastating smile. When he looked at her like that she felt like he would stay with her...forever.

A drop of water hitting her nose broke Liz from her thoughts. "It's raining" she exclaimed softly. It had been a long, dry summer.

"Do you want to go back?"

"No, I missed the rain."

Within a few minutes the soft sprinkles turned to fat drops and it began to pour. Liz raised her face to the sky, letting the rain wash over her skin. Philip laughed and spun her around.

"Dance with me," she smiled.

"Dance?" Philip laughed again, "In this weather?"

"Yes,"

Philip twirled her then grabbed her other hand. They waltzed on the empty sidewalk in the rain, oblivious to the rest of the world.

Philip watched Liz intently. Gosh, she's beautiful, even wet. Her dark blonde hair clung to her cheeks and neck in dark curls and her light blue eyes danced in the light form the street lamps when she looked up at him. He pulled her close and their playful waltz turned into a slow embrace. She wrapped her arms around his neck and they danced cheek to cheek.

"Lizabeth?"

"Hmmm?"

"I wanted to talk to you tonight."

"About what?"

"About us." When she remained quiet he continued. "It's always been two steps forward, one step back with us and just when I thought we were on the right track things came to an abrupt halt." Philip pulled back to look into her eyes, needing to see what she was thinking. The tentative love he recognized there caused relief to flood through his body. Still holding her close to him, he searched deeper, then struggled to understand what he found. In her eyes he saw...forever.

"I love you," he whispered, overtook with emotion.

She hesitated, this is it, now or never. She was scared, but no one had ever looked at her like that before and she had never felt this way with anyone else. She was tired of being alone. She wanted someone to share her life with. Liz took a deep breath, "I love you too."

In that moment Philip knew his days of little black books and different girlfriends each week were over for good. Just the same, her days of being a loner and never needing anyone were gone, too.

Philip pulled her tight against his body and lowered his head. He kissed her softly, both their hearts skipped a beat. Liz moved her hands to hold his face and brought his lips back to hers in a crushing kiss. Her tongue darted across his lower lip and he opened his mouth to her. He caressed her tongue with his and she moaned softly encouraging him to deepen the passionate kiss.

After what seemed like forever they broke apart, breathless. "C'mon," Philip ended their embrace but never let go of her hand. "Let's get out of the rain."

***

Outside the bar, now under the safety of the awning, they ran into Lee and Amanda.

"What happened to you two?" Amanda asked laughing.

"Rain" Philip answered simply.

"What were you doing out in the rain?" Lee asked. Both he and Amanda noticed that Philip and Liz were beaming. The dark cloud that had been hanging over their heads was now gone.

"Dancing" Philip answered again smiling at Liz.

Lee and Amanda exchanged a look. "Well, I'd ask you to join us for dinner, but I'm not sure I want to spend the evening with a couple of drowned rats," Lee joked.

"Yeah," Philip looked to Liz, "we should go, uh, change," and he turned toward the parking lot.

"See ya later," Amanda smiled knowingly.

Philip tugged on Liz's hand. "Bye Amanda, bye Lee," Liz said.

"Yeah, bye," Philip and Liz once again ventured into the rain, Philip leading Liz to his car.

Lee opened the door for Amanda and followed her in. "Dancing in the rain," he smiled and shook his head.

"Finally. They took longer than we did."

Lee laughed and pulled his wife close. "Well, I hope they'll be as happy as we are."

"They will."

"How do you know that?"

Amanda thought for a moment. "Because he looks at her the same way you look at me."

"And how's that, Mrs. Stetson?"

"It's like..." Amanda paused, trying to find a way to put an emotion into words, "like, you'll love me forever."

Lee smiled and kissed her gently. "Forever, huh?"

"Forever."

END