A/N: Hey y'all! The fic exchange is finally here! I'm so excited! Y'all're lucky I wrote this a month ago so I wouldn't have to worry about it during finals. I've only got one paper left, though.

I can't thank everyone enough for participating. I hope this can become a regular thing.

I loved this prompt and writing this story. Hope you like it, too! Leave me a note in the reviews, and also let me know how you'd feel about doing another fic exchange. We had been talking about doing one around Valentine's or Tea's birthday or so. It's so cool that so many people signed up for this exchange. It'll give us some good reading material while the show is on hiatus.

For the December 2016 fic exchange

The first time Elizabeth and Henry heard the Queen Elizabeth nickname

"God, Henry… How did you find her?" Maureen spoke with disdain.

Henry turned his head, shocked. Elizabeth had just stepped out to the restroom. He had brought her home for the first time. Thanksgiving with his family, he knew, would be an interesting experience for her, but so far everyone had been on their best behavior. Until now.

With all the introductions out of the way, Henry's mother had holed herself up in the kitchen to check on the turkey for their dinner. Patrick, Henry's dad, was out of the house with Henry's other siblings on a last minute grocery store run. That left Maureen to entertain Henry and Elizabeth. She had been acting perfectly nicely to Elizabeth while they were all talking. Henry was confused why she suddenly changed her mind. He hoped he had just misinterpreted her tone.

"What do you mean? We met in class, I told you…"

"No. I mean, how did you find such a stuck up little…"

"Stop it! I happen to like her, and I won't put up with you trash talking her. She's a great person."

"She's a rich brat who thinks she knows everything."

"She's not a brat. I love her, and if you can't respect that…"

"Fine, fine. I'll be nice to her for you. But I swear, if she rubs my face in her family money again, I'm done."

"She's not rubbing your nose in it. She just misses her family. This trip is a lot for her, and you should try to understand that. Besides, it's not her fault she has money."

Maureen rolled her eyes. "Right. It's not her fault she never had to work."

Henry kept his voice deliberately calm. "You know nothing about her life. Would you just give her a chance before you hate her?"

At that moment, Elizabeth emerged from the bathroom. She gravitated towards Henry and sat beside him. "Hey."

"Hey, babe. You okay?" Henry had forgotten about Maureen now that Elizabeth was in the room. Her eyes looked sad and slightly red.

Elizabeth glanced briefly at Maureen before smiling softly at Henry.

"I'm fine. Just tired, I guess. The trip was long. Mind if I go lie down?" Her voice was softer than usual.

Henry could see that she might need some help settling in.

"Of course. I need to get my stuff unpacked, too." Turning to Maureen, he said, "we'll be back down in a bit. It's good to see you again," and gave her a short hug.

"Maureen doesn't like me." Elizabeth said softly as she folded a sweater and put it away in a drawer.

Henry came up behind her and rubbed her shoulders before turning her to face him. "She'll come around, babe. And if she doesn't, I promise you it's not a big deal. She doesn't like much of anyone."

"At least your mom likes me. That's all I care about."

Henry laughed. "Why do you care so much about Mom over the others?"

"Because you care about her opinion, and I don't want anyone telling you to break up with me. I want you all for myself." She teased him, pleased that she could be so open with him.

Hearing that, Henry held her to him and kissed her hair. "I love you. You know that."

She pecked him on the lips, smiling. "I do know that. But I'm not taking any chances."

"This isn't chance, babe. This is a sure thing." He rubbed his hands up and down her arms with a look of utter sincerity on his face.

Elizabeth's gaze drifted away for a second. Henry's words reminded her of why she had had to step out earlier. She hadn't had a big family Thanksgiving since her parents died. It was overwhelming and brought back a lot of memories. Most of them were good, but it still hurt. Being happy hurt when she wasn't sure if she'd ever be that happy again. Her parents had been a sure thing. She was always so sure they would be there for her. Until they weren't…

"What are you thinking?" Henry whispered the words against her cheek.

She wrapped her arms around his neck, clinging to him, reminding herself that Henry was real. He was real and really in love with her. She didn't want to mess that up. He said Maureen didn't matter, but would he change his mind? He's not going to change his mind about me because Maureen doesn't like me, she tried to tell herself. But she wasn't quite sure she believed it. His dad didn't seem too impressed, either, in the brief few moments she met him before he left. If enough of the family hated her, it couldn't help but color Henry's view of her.

"It's complicated." Before her parents died, everything seemed so sure. But not now. When her parents were alive, she could have told them anything. Their love was unconditional. But romantic love was different. There were strings attached to it. Henry had fallen in love with a very specific version of Elizabeth Adams, and it would take a while before she figured out if he also loved the other sides of her.

"I'm still here, babe. I know they're overwhelming, but you can still talk to me. I'm still here for you. You aren't going to offend me if you don't like them."

The words were quiet and reassuring. Elizabeth knew that Henry wanted nothing more than to make her happy. The thing was, though, she was working to make him happy. And it seemed right now that those two things were at cross-purposes. She could voice her doubts about Henry's family and make herself feel better, or she could convince Henry that everything was fine and make him feel better. She chose the latter.

"Could we just take a few minutes before we go back down for dinner?" She clung to him, feeling the way his biceps filled out his sleeves. He's so strong. He doesn't need me being all clingy, she thought to herself. But she couldn't help herself. She needed his reassurance.

"Come'ere. I've got you." He reclined in the small twin bed against the headboard, helping her lay down on her side next to him, resting her head against his abs.

She gave a soft sigh, nuzzling into the muscles of Henry's torso. There are certainly benefits to dating a marine, she thought.

"You sure you're okay? It's okay if you're not okay…"

"I'll be okay. I just need to rest a minute with you." Her arms wrapped around him tightly, making him understand that she wasn't going to let him move until she was ready.

Henry smiled proudly. It gave him immense pleasure that when Elizabeth was tired or upset, he could make her feel better. He smoothed her hair down and settled in so Elizabeth could get a nap before dinner.

"So, Elizabeth, tell me about your studies. Henry said you're studying international relations. That sounds fascinating."

Henry's mother was passing around cranberry sauce, completely in her element. She loved having the house full of people. Having the kids, she would always think of them as kids, home from school was the highlight of her holiday. And now that Henry had brought Elizabeth home, she was ready to help Henry embrace this new phase of his life.

"Yes, international relations and political science. I'm doing a double major. I guess I couldn't decide if I wanted to focus on international or domestic, so I decided to do both." Elizabeth hoped everyone would find it funny that she fit the stereotype of the indecisive college student.

Maureen scoffed loudly. Everyone at the table ignored her except her dad, who tilted his head indulgently.

"Well I think that's wonderful. There's no reason to pigeonhole yourself too soon. You've got plenty of time to figure everything out. It sounds like you'll be that much more prepared. What are you thinking you'll do after you graduate?"

Elizabeth and Henry shared a glance, smiling to each other. "I'm not really sure, yet. Eventually grad school, but I might want to take some time off first. Travel, get some experience, you know." Their post-graduation plans filled up a lot of Henry and Elizabeth's late-night conversations. There were so many places they wanted to see together, they knew it was impossible to do everything.

"That sounds like it'd be lovely. You should take Henry with you. I don't want you travelling by yourself." She held up a finger in admonishment.

Elizabeth laughed lightly, genuinely touched that Henry's mother cared so much about her. "I'm already working on convincing him to come to Paris with me this summer. I spent a year studying French there, and I want to show him all the adorable cafes and parks."

"Well doesn't that sound like fun?" Henry's mother smiled warmly. She loved seeing how much more adventurous Henry was when he was around Elizabeth. Not that he hadn't been independent before – he had – but now with Elizabeth, he was willing to do things for fun. Before Elizabeth, he had been working flat out to get into college and get out of the house. She understood that, but it was good to see him relaxing with Elizabeth and truly having fun. Pat had been against Henry going to college, but she could see that Henry really seemed to have found his place.

"Of course it sounds like fun. Wouldn't you like to be able to ditch work for months on end and travel the world? Anyone would. The problem is the rest of us don't live in your fantasyland." Maureen spoke bitterly.

"Maureen! Hush!" Maureen's mother had high standards for welcoming houseguests, and she didn't like Maureen's tone.

Pat spoke up. "She's got a point, you know, Henry. Someone has to stay behind and run the factories and plow the farms while the jet set gets to run around the world. On the backs of the men below…"

"That's not what I meant…" Elizabeth trailed off, putting her hands in her lap and trying to keep her face impassive.

Henry wrapped an arm around his girlfriend's shoulders. "Of course that's not what you meant. Don't listen to them."

Maureen spoke again. She didn't like being ignored by her brother, and it seemed like he had done nothing in recent years but ignore her. "Well, some of us didn't get life handed to us on a silver platter. You know he doesn't have a trust fund, right, Elizabeth?"

Elizabeth sat with her mouth open, not sure what to say. She didn't know how she could diffuse the situation. "Please, Maureen, I didn't mean…"

"Elizabeth, don't you dare apologize." Henry said angrily. "Maureen is the one who should be apologizing here."

"Really, Henry? You don't think that's a bit much? You go off to that yuppie school and think you're better than everyone else." She was practically yelling now.

"I do not think I'm better than anyone else!" Henry had his voice raised now, too.

"Yeah, you do! You wouldn't have brought her with you if you didn't think you were better than us! You're rubbing it in our faces that your friends are rich and successful!" Maureen stood up, offended that Henry was disrespecting their family by thinking he could do so much better. When their parents had both been working two jobs, Maureen had had to take on a lot of responsibility. Henry had been too young to know the extent of it, but he should have been more grateful. He shouldn't have ignored the amount of effort it had to keep the family afloat by so casually taking up with Elizabeth.

"I'm going for a walk. You're being ridiculous. I refuse to talk to you when you're like this. Come on, Elizabeth. You don't need to listen to this." Henry got up and took Elizabeth's hand in his own. It registered somewhere in his head that her hand was really sweaty, but he had to get out of the house.

"Yeah! Just leave! That's what you're so good at, isn't it? As long as you take Queen Elizabeth there with you, you can just get out." Her yelling quieted to a low, menacing growl.

"Maureen! I said hush!" Her mother spoke up, appalled. "Henry, Elizabeth, stay, please. Maureen doesn't mean that. You shouldn't leave." She tried to convince her son.

"No, Mom, I think Maureen and Dad have made themselves quite clear. If they aren't going to be nice to Elizabeth, we'll just leave." He glanced around the table before pulling Elizabeth upstairs to pack their things.

Elizabeth's face was bunched up as she tried to keep from crying. The first chance she had had at a family in years, and she had ruined it. She should have toned down her talk of travelling. That's what set Maureen off. If only she hadn't mentioned it…

God, she had messed up. Henry wouldn't want to oppose his family forever, and there was no way Maureen or his father would come around anytime soon. His mother was only upset that the idyllic holiday dinner had been broken up. His mother probably didn't like her much, either. Henry would realize that it just wouldn't work out. He'd see that she would just never be able to fit into his life. She was too broken, too isolated, too different… There was no good reason for him to want to take the time to put up with her.

When they got up to his bedroom and started packing, Elizabeth couldn't control herself anymore. Her tears overflowed, and she wrapped her arms around herself. Henry wasn't even looking at her. This whole mess had probably made him hate her. He'd probably take her back to campus and tell her that it just wouldn't work out. He'd be nice about it, but that would only make it worse.

Hearing Elizabeth's quiet gasps of air between sobs, Henry turned from his open suitcase to her. He had been so caught up in replaying the conversation downstairs over and over in his head, he hadn't noticed how upset she was. His heart dropped at the sight of his girlfriend in tears. He had been keeping himself angry at Maureen, but Elizabeth didn't need his anger. She was clearly pretty broken up.

"Baby, it's okay. Don't pay attention to any of them. I love you. Don't worry about Maureen." He held out his arms to her so he could pull her into a hug. That usually made her feel better.

Elizabeth backed away with a hand to her mouth. "I'm so sorry I couldn't get them to like me. I'm sorry I ruined everything…" Her tears were coming so hard, she could barely speak.

"You didn't do anything wrong. This isn't your fault." He tried to approach her again, hoping she'd let him comfort her. He hadn't seen her this unraveled before. Sure, she had cried, she had been sad, she had been angry… but not like this. For some reason she looked like her whole world was ending. Henry couldn't quite understand what had upset her so much.

She sank down against the wall, unable to bear Henry's touch. He would comfort her because that was the kind of guy he was. But he would break up with her soon, she just knew it. She couldn't let him comfort her when he was going to leave her. Everyone ended up leaving… How had she managed to convince herself that Henry wouldn't leave her? Now she had ruined everything. If only she had been able to get Henry's family to like her… she could have had a family again.

"That's just it… I just don't fit in here, Henry. I'm so sorry. I tried. I wanted this to work out more than anything in the world. I'm so sorry I messed it all up." She hid her face in her arms, unable to look at Henry one more minute.

Henry realized what she was on about. He could have kicked himself. He should have warned her more before he brought her up to see his family. Taking a deep breath, he sat down opposite her, leaning against the bed. She didn't need more excitement. She needed calm.

"You know, Maureen had several different boyfriends when she was a teenager. She'd go out with a guy for a couple months, and then she'd bring him home for a family dinner. If her boyfriend didn't get along with Dad, she'd break up with him. It became the running joke at the high school. You might as well as ask Dad's permission before you even tried to date her because you'd get kicked to the curb eventually, anyway. You notice she's single now."

Elizabeth had no idea where this story was going, and to be honest, she could barely follow it through her tears. Henry's voice calmed her, though. His deep rumble and presence as steady and solid as a rock sitting across from her reassured that her world wasn't crumbling down at that very moment.

"In any case, if you've noticed nothing so far, you've noticed that Maureen and I are complete opposites. If anything, I'm glad Maureen and Dad don't seem to like you. When they liked me, I didn't like myself too much. I tried to get out of here for a reason. I wanted to see the world and live without a chip on my shoulder. I didn't want to let this," he gestured out the bedroom door, "dictate how I spent the rest of my life. I wanted to give it a go, even if it meant failing sometimes. If they liked you too much, I'd have to reconsider our relationship. I fell in love with you because you challenge me and make me step outside of myself. I didn't fall in love with you because you were like where I came from. I fell in love with you because I like where you're going, and I want to go there with you."

Elizabeth's tears had slowed as she listened to Henry's words. Her head popped up just enough so she could look at him. He was completely sincere. His eyes never strayed from hers. She could see in his even, steady gaze that he was telling the truth.

"You're not breaking up with me?" Her voice was raspy from her tears.

Henry was genuinely shocked, and his face registered his dismay. "Break up with you? Because Maureen is acting like a harpy? God, no. I brought you up here so you'd know what my family is like. They're a pain, but you should know what you're getting into. I'm sorry they weren't more civil."

"You sure you're not going to break up with me? Because this is all a lot, and I just can't handle the back and forth…" She glanced from side to side with one side of her face clenched tight, trying to keep from crying again.

"I'm not going to leave you, babe. When you're ready, I'm going to ask you to marry me. I'm not going to cut and run. I'm here. You can count on me. Promise." He held his hand out to her, hoping she'd take it.

"You mean that?" She asked, eyeing his hand.

"I do." He winked.

She crawled over to him, bypassing his hand, and wriggled herself into his lap. She settled her head in the crook of his neck and wound her arms around him, having no intention of letting him go. She felt him wrap his arms around her, and she was enveloped in his strength and warmth.

"I love you, Henry. I don't know what I'd do without you."

"I love you, too. I'm not going anywhere without you, babe." They shared a kiss.

Elizabeth didn't realize she needed Henry to kiss her to make it better, but once he was kissing her, she knew that Henry meant what he said. He was sure, and he wanted her. She wanted the kiss to go on forever. Eventually, though, they both needed to breathe.

"Is your mom going to be real mad about the whole thing?" She nuzzled into his neck again.

Henry smiled. Elizabeth still cared, even after all that had been said. His family had treated her terribly, but she still cared about them. "She'll be upset dinner was ruined, but she won't be mad at anyone in particular. She always sees the best in anyone, so she thinks it's just kind of a random occurrence when things go wrong. She won't blame anyone for this any more than she'd blame someone for a snowstorm."

"Good. I like your mom a lot."

"Well, compared to what you've seen so far, I'm sure you'd like anyone who didn't yell at you."

"You know, I've heard the Queen Elizabeth thing before." She joked with a smile.

"On a playground, I'm sure." Henry groaned.

"Well, yes, actually…" She moved a leg across his body so she was straddling him. She looked directly into his eyes. In that position, she was a couple inches taller.

Henry ran his hands up and down her sides. Having to look up at her was a bit of a thrill. "Come on. Let's get out of here. I don't want you listening to them and letting it ruin your holiday."

"You want to go back to school? So soon?"

"We can. But what about going into DC and hanging out for a couple days? Or maybe Philly? Hell, we could go up to New York if you want. This is your vacation. Where do you want to go?"

Elizabeth thought for a minute and leaned flush against Henry. She could feel their hearts beating in sync with each other. "I just want to be with you."

"You want to go over to Lake Anna and hang out just the two of us?" He spoke of the small lake close to UVA. They had gone up for short daytrips before during the summer.

It was tempting, but Elizabeth couldn't think of anything but how quiet the lake would be that time of year. It would be cold, and that would be fine, but the quiet just wasn't something she could deal with.

"Could we try staying here for another day?" She spoke quietly into his ear, rubbing his chest unconsciously with her fingertips.

"Why would you want to stay here? I don't want you hearing all their crap. You don't deserve this."

"Henry, it's family. I haven't had this in…." Her voice caught, and she swallowed hard.

"Shhh…. It's okay. If you want to stay, we'll stay."

"They're so loud and boisterous and…" she trailed off.

"I know. I'm sorry…" he filled in the space.

"Wonderful. They're wonderful, Henry. Thank you for bringing me here."

Henry stared up at his ceiling, still clutching her to his chest. "You still surprise me, you know that? You love the simplest things. Seriously, the most basic stuff… and you think it's the best thing ever. But then you come against some giant problem and you don't think it's anything at all."

Elizabeth laughed. "But you love me."

"I do love you. Don't ever forget that." He pecked her cheek.

"But maybe we should hide out for a little longer before going downstairs…"

"Yeah, we need to give Maureen a chance to cool off… I'm sorry about Maureen."

"She's your older sister, babe. There's not a whole lot you can do."

They heard a soft knock at the door, and Henry's mother poked her head in the room. "Hey, you two, how you doing?"

Elizabeth casually slid to one side so she wasn't straddling Henry in front of his mother. She didn't move from his embrace, though. She rested her head against Henry's shoulder and sighed quietly.

"We're okay, Mom. Elizabeth wants to stay, so we'll stay if that's not too awkward." Henry spoke up.

"Oh, good. I didn't want Maureen to run you off. I haven't seen you in ages, and family should be together on Thanksgiving."

"Thanks, Mom."

"You okay, Elizabeth, dear? Maureen just likes the way things have always been done, but she'll come around."

"I'm fine. It's just a lot to take in."

Henry's mother spoke with a smile, "Well, there's certainly never a dull moment around here. That's for sure. I guess you're not used to all the excitement."

"No." She shook her head. "I'm not." Elizabeth tried not to cry, but with all the crying she had been doing in the last hour, it was hard not to get the waterworks started up again.

"Oh." Henry's mother realized what she had said. "Darling, I'm sorry. Come here." She held out her arms to Elizabeth.

Elizabeth wasn't sure why she got up to let Henry's mother comfort her. This woman wasn't her own mother. In fact, she barely knew her.

Taking Elizabeth in a gentle hug, Henry's mother rubbed her back and spoke quietly, but loud enough that Henry could hear, too. "I know it's not enough, but you're family here. You're welcome anytime. Anytime at all."

She tried to respond, tried to thank this woman who had so generously accepted her into the family. But she couldn't speak. Tears started trickling down her cheeks again.

"Oh, darling, it's okay. It's okay." Henry's mother soothed Elizabeth as she would her own child.

Henry got to his feet and stood behind Elizabeth, rubbing her back.

"It's been a hard few days. Why don't you two relax tonight? I'll leave out some cookies and pie for if you get hungry. We can all start fresh in the morning. Does that sound alright?" Henry's mother looked down at Elizabeth.

Elizabeth nodded before looking back at Henry.

Henry stepped forward a bit to accept Elizabeth into his arms again.

Henry's mother smiled at the sight of her son comforting his girlfriend. "Let me know if you need anything." With that, she quietly slipped out of the room and closed the door.

"You okay?" Henry led his girlfriend to the bed. He sat and encouraged her to sit with him.

She sank heavily beside him on the tiny bed, hearing the loud squeak underneath her. "I'm okay."

"I know this has to be bringing up a lot of stuff for you, and if you want to talk, I'm here. I want to hear anything you're ready to tell me."

He wrapped an arm around her shoulders, and she snuggled up to him gratefully.

Elizabeth felt a little ridiculous. It seemed she had spent most of the day crying. She knew ahead of time it would be difficult. Of course her first real Thanksgiving after her parents died would be hard. But she had developed a thick skin. It took a lot to make her cry. It took a lot to make her break.

Except around Henry…

That boy could make her feel more emotions than she ever thought possible. Most of them were good, but Henry could also bring out the pain she had tried to hide from the world. She hid her pain successfully from the world, but not from Henry. He gave her the safety and space to open up. He pushed into all the ignored corners of her mind, pulling out her pain and soothing it.

"Baby, you're brooding." Henry shifted from his position beside her so he could sit in front of her and look her directly in the eyes. Her eyes were blank for a second until he saw her register his words.

She came back to him slowly, blinking repeatedly.

He saw her bunch up one side of her face the way she always did when she was thinking and trying not to cry.

"They're gone, Henry. They're really gone, and they're not coming back." She looked down, overcome with the weight of her loneliness.

"I know, babe."

"I'm never going to get to introduce them to you."

Henry rubbed the back of her hand with his thumb. He knew she needed to get this all out. It wasn't time for him to comment.

"I'm never going to get to call my mom and ask how to cook a Turkey. I'm never going to get to make my dad his favorite pie. I'm never going to be able to introduce our kids to their grandparents. They're never going to have grandparents… When I graduate, I won't have anyone sitting in the parents' section. I won't have my dad walking me down the aisle. They'll never know how happy I am with you or how good you are. That part of my life's all over. All of those family moments I had… I didn't realize that it would be over so fast."

She gripped Henry's hand tightly. Tears were streaming down her cheeks, but she hardly noticed them. These were all things she had processed before. She had had all of these thoughts in the years since her parents died. But for some reason, it came back again now that she was getting to know Henry's family. He still had a family. He still had all the things she missed and so desperately wanted back. She almost wanted to be mad at him, be jealous that he took all of it for granted… But she wasn't angry with Henry… She was angry at how unfair life was. She was angry that her life had been turned upside down when she had done everything right. There was nothing she wasn't good at. School, sports… maybe she wasn't the best at choir… but still. There had been nothing she could do to bring her parents back. That was what made her so mad.

"I know, babe. But you still have all the memories. It's not enough, but it's something. They would be so proud of you. Look at everything you've done. You've honored their memory the best way you know how. You used what they taught you to become the most amazing, intelligent, caring, insightful, and beautiful woman I've ever met."

"You mean all that?" The corner of Elizabeth's mouth crooked up in a smile.

"With all my heart."

They sat together, regarding each other with eyes full of love and hope. Henry held onto Elizabeth's forearms, feeling the trembles in her body fade as she relaxed. Elizabeth pondered the way Henry could calm her mind and body with a few well-chosen words and well-placed touches. He was good for her. Her parents would be pleased if they could see the kind of man Henry was and how he treated their daughter. That thought made her feel calm in a way that nothing else could. They had taught her enough to find her way to Henry because she knew what love and honesty looked like.

"Thank you for bringing me here, Henry."

"You sure you want to put up with them? We can still leave…" He joked as he tucked a loose strand of golden hair behind her ear.

"I'll put up with them forever as long as I have you. And they're not as bad as you think they are. They're good people, Henry. They're loving, dedicated, and strong in their convictions. I want our kids to have family like that."

Henry plopped back beside Elizabeth at the head of the bed and wrapped an arm around her waist. "You know, if we keep talking about kids, I'm going to have to propose sooner than I was planning…"

Elizabeth closed the few inches between them and left a soft kiss on Henry's lips. "You propose whenever you want, babe. I'm not going anywhere." She settled her head against his chest and started to make herself comfortable.

The two of them heard an unmistakable rumble from Elizabeth's middle. Henry laughed, and Elizabeth looked embarrassed.

"You want to go down and get some pie, babe?"

"Maybe…"