This was poisonmystery's selection for her one shot contest prize.

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For the last twenty minutes Julie and Eli had been lost in the crowd of intellectuals but finally they were able to escape to the side of the room. They huddled together, hoping they could be left alone for a few sweet minutes, and clutched their drinks close to their bodies.

By this point the effort they had put in to sucking up and completely disheveled their sophisticated looks. Eli's hair was mussed and his tie was loosened and Julie's hair seemed to have lost its sheen. But even though they were less sophisticated looking, they still looked good. Julie noted that Eli's hair made him look sort of rogue-ish and Eli noticed that Julie looked more confident when everything wasn't in its proper place.

"It's going pretty well," Julie whispered.

"As far as I can tell," Eli whispered back.

"You'll be getting your residency in no time." She raised her glass, which was sparking glass, to him and he clinked it with his own.

"You think so?"

"I know so."

"Well now that that's settled, want to get out of here?" he asked, leaning into the wall next to him, keeping his eyes trained on her reaction.

"What?" Her eyes widened and her cheeks flushed in a completely adorable way.

"Come on, let's go," he jerked his chin to the door where even more guests were filing in. "There's no reason to hang around here."

"Except for the fact that it's early and you're expected to at least listen to all the toasts. What's gotten into you?"

"Nothing. I'm just giving in to the mood of the night..." He looked around the room and started humming along with the band and swaying slightly. Maybe it was the booze or just being with Julie, but either way he was feeling good.

Julie punched him in the shoulder, not hurting him at all. "Well get into another mood because we can't leave yet."

"But I'm so bored!" He pouted at her but she just rolled her eyes and sipped her drink in response.

"Don't whine, it's not attractive."

"So I'm attractive at other times?" He leaned towards her again and for once she didn't pull away. But of course he didn't expect her to stay put and he ended up tripping over himself and almost falling on top of her.

"Totally. You're a complete dream boat, now get off of me."

"Someday, Julie, you will not push me away but instead pull me closer." He threw his arm over her shoulders and she made a big show of trying to move away from him but didn't actually move that far away.

"I highly doubt that."

"I don't. Now, come on, if you insist on staying here we might as well go ahead and mingle. I want to get this over with as soon as possible."

She grabbed his hand and started to pull him away from the wall but he resisted. "All right, let's get going. I can't have my date wallowing in a corner."

"Your date, huh? I like the sound of that."

"Well when I look this good of course you do." She was obviously joking but he couldn't help but look her up and down and completely agree.

"That must be it. You know, I could get used to this," he said, slinging an arm over her shoulder.

"Get used to what? Going to these parties?"

"I guess. But mostly having you be my date to these things." He was trying to seem casual but couldn't keep his heart from starting to pound. This was his chance to take their relationship to the next level.

"I think I could get used to being your date."

He just had to go for it. "Do you think that you could get used to something else?"

"Like what." Julie's hands started to sweat. He wasn't about to ask her out, was he? Oh God he was. What was she going to say? Did she even like Eli that way? Of course she did, that was a stupid question. She leaned towards him, ready to answer as soon as he asked.

"Like you becoming my-" They were so close, so very close, and then it was all over.

"Mr. Masters? Could I talk to you for a second?" It was his professor, who was quickly becoming their least favorite person in the world. Of all the times to interrupt they had to do this now?

"Um, I was just about to..." Eli said. "Could I talk to you in a minute?"

"No, don't worry about it. We'll talk later, okay?" Julie said.

"I don't want to interrupt."

"You aren't, it's fine. Go ahead, I'm going to go get a drink." She was already walking away, making sure to turn her face to hide her disappointment, and it took all he had not to grab her and say "don't go!" even though he knew it wasn't a big deal.

"But, I-" She turned around and gave him a "why must you always be such a baby" look.

"No buts, mister." She shook her finger at him. "I'll be over by the bar when you're done, all right?"

"Okay. Don't go running off anywhere." He had meant to sound swave but he just ended up sounding pathetic.

"I promise, I won't. Go impress people." She gave him a shove for good measure but he didn't go anywhere, she was half his size after all.

"I'll try. If I can impress you I can impress anyone."

She grinned. "And you've almost impressed me so these guys should be easy."

"See you in a minute."

"Not a second longer, I won't be able to stand it." Julie was smiling so brightly Eli almost didn't walk away but finally he turned around and went to talk to his professor. He was sure he would see her in a few moments and then they could finish that conversation.