meridian_rose

Title: “First Times”
Rating & pairing/character: PG-13 to be safe; Juliet/Sawyer
Word Count: 1158
Summary: Sawyer takes Juliet to a celebration picnic
Type: Fluff; dangerous levels of saccharine ahead!
Prompt: picnics
Written for:

miss_atom at the

whedonland Fic Fest
Disclaimer : not mine, not for profit

“James, where are we going?” Blindfolded, Juliet stumbled, but Sawyer had hold of her shoulders and wouldn’t let her fall.
“Just a little further,” he promised.
When he released her, and let her take off the blindfold, she was astonished to find a blanket on the ground beneath a tree. A wicker basket was at one corner and she turned to Sawyer, who was gazing proudly at his handiwork.
“A picnic?”
He nodded and went to kneel at the side of the basket. “Thought you might enjoy it.” He began to pull plates and glasses from the basket. Juliet joined him, smoothing her loose trousers around her knees as she sat.
There was a cheeseboard, wrapped in Saran wrap. There were stuffed olives. There were salmon and watercress sandwiches cut into tiny triangles. There was also a bag of chips and some cold pizza slices because even if Sawyer was being romantic he still wanted something with substance to eat.
As Juliet nibbled on a sandwich, Sawyer opened a bottle of wine and filled a glass for her.
“My lady.”
She accepted it with a smile. He still nicknamed everyone in sight but he’d taken to only ever calling her by her name, or as “My lady”. It wasn’t meant in a derogatory fashion and it was never used in public - she rather liked it, liked having something private they shared.
“Why the occasion, James?” she asked, settling down with her back against the tree trunk. She could see the ocean in the distance and for a moment she felt completely at peace.
He swatted back a strand of loose hair from his face. “I just thought…it’s our anniversary.”
Juliet frowned. “What do you mean?”
“It’s our one month anniversary.” He popped an olive into his mouth and she waited for him to chew and swallow.
“Are we back in high school? Anniversary means a year,” she said and instantly regretted it when Sawyer looked away. She leant over and touched his arm. “James, I’m sorry. I was teasing.”
He looked back at her, wary. For all his bravado he was fragile in so many ways. Sometimes she forgot that.
“You think it’s stupid,” he said.
She shook her head. “A picnic is never stupid,” she said. “This is sweet.”
Sawyer tossed his head. “Great, now I’m sweet. You’re ruining my reputation, you know.” At least he wasn’t sulking now.
“What reputation is that?”
He leant in close. “The big, bad, LaFleur.”
“I like bad.” Juliet closed her eyes as their lips met.
When he finally pulled away, she took a sip of wine and pointed to one of the plates. “Hand me some pizza.”
“Now we’re talking.” Sawyer grabbed two slices and snuggled up alongside her so they were both facing the ocean.
When they’d eaten most of the food and finished their first glasses of wine, Sawyer delved into the basket once more. A large dish wrapped in tinfoil was produced and Juliet peeled the foil off to reveal a heap of heap strawberries. Sawyer, grinning, shook a can of whipped of cream.
“I thought we were out of cream,” Juliet said. “Amy has been counting the days to the next food drop.”
Sawyer gave her a sly smile. “You might not want to mention this to her,” he suggested as he squirted a generous serving of cream over and around the fruit.
Juliet chose a strawberry and bit the end of it off, enjoying the sweet cream and the slightly less sweet taste of the fruit. It was delicious and in the face of such deliciousness Sawyer’s hijacking of the last can of cream wasn’t something she could bring herself to be morally outraged by.
Sawyer dipped his own strawberry in a dollop of the cream, loading it with white foam, and popped the whole thing into his mouth. Then he busied himself pouring more wine.
“Explain to me how this is our anniversary,” Juliet said.
“It is exactly thirty days since we first kissed.” Sawyer handed her a glass. He licked at his thumb where a few stray drops of wine had splashed. “At Dara’s birthday party.”
It was true. Perhaps it had been the tequila that had been on offer, or the full moon, or the general atmosphere of the barbecue, but Juliet had found herself dancing with Sawyer. Before she knew it, he was kissing her, and she was kissing him back.
They’d been doing dancing of a different sort around their feelings, but it had long enough that they’d started to feel settled into their new lives, and while he still clearly had feelings for Kate, Sawyer had been seeming to want to move on. They were, however, both still wary enough not to rush into anything. They’d been taking things very slowly over the next few weeks and kissing was, up until now, as far as it had gone.
Juliet had been beginning to wonder if he was still interested. She didn’t think Sawyer was the sort to be patient where relationships were concerned. The picnic was, therefore, not only a nice surprise, but a very reassuring gesture.
“And you remember that?” she pushed.
“Like it was yesterday.” Sawyer took a swallow of wine. “You doubting me?”
“No.” Juliet laughed and amended, “I believe you remember it. You’d be in trouble if you didn’t. I just didn’t think you were keeping count.”
He glanced away, tongue touching his lips. “Want me to be honest? Even if it ruins the moment?”
“Yes. I always want you to be honest.” They were living enough of a lie and she didn’t want a relationship based on more deceit.
Sawyer turned to her, serious. “I wasn’t keeping count,” he confessed.
“Then how did you know?”
“Miles.” Sawyer laughed. “He was all, ‘Dude, you do know it’s your one month anniversary’ and going on about how you deserved a romantic gesture, especially if I wanted to seal the deal.”
Juliet gave a snort that was half a laugh, half a shriek of outrage. “Seal the deal?”
“His words, not mine,” Sawyer protested.
Juliet coughed as she tried not to laugh and took another sip of wine.
“He was right though,” Sawyer said, more serious again, when Juliet had caught her breath. “You do deserve a bit of romance.”
They shared another kiss.
“I’ll thank Miles, then,” Juliet said at last. “And, I guess, so should you.”
Sawyer reached for the can, twirled it like a pistol and added more cream to the strawberries. “I was going to give him the rest of the cream,” he offered, adding mischievously, “Unless you can think of something better to do with it.”
Juliet raised an eyebrow and Sawyer discarded the cream, moving in for a long, slow, kiss.
“James?”
“Yes?”
“Let’s go.”
“Yes, ma’am.” Sawyer packed up with an efficiency a military officer would have been proud of.
That night was the first time they made love.