A/N: This fic started out as one prompt and morphed into the second. Of course, I'm 24 pages into the story, so I'm dividing it up into chapters. This first part doesn't go into the second prompt, but we'll get there in the second chapter. I hope you enjoy it. Any reviews are much appreciated.

These are lilacmermaid33 Tumblr prompts. She has the best prompts ever!

Madam Secretary Prompt: Elizabeth spends a long time pursuing Henry before he agrees to go out with her. (Or vice versa).

Madam Secretary Prompt: The first time Elizabeth visits Henry's family in Pittsburgh isn't a holiday or school vacation - it's to attend a funeral.

Chapter 1

Sophomore, Elizabeth Adams speed walked across campus. She stopped to talk to her Statistics professor after class and ended up walking back to his office discussing bias and its effect on the overall outcome of her end of semester project. Of course, Professor Jenkins's office was the opposite direction of the library, which was where she needed to be ten minutes ago.

She shifted her backpack on her shoulder, redistributing the weight as she tried to pick up her pace. Elizabeth knew that her boyfriend of three months, junior, Henry McCord, would probably not even notice that she was late. He was in the middle of research to lay groundwork for his senior thesis and to say he sometimes got preoccupied was an understatement. Her thoughts turned to Henry as she thought of him bent over the long study table, papers scattered around, furiously jotting notes. She'd call his name and he'd look up with his wide, bright smile, his glasses precariously perched on his nose. He'd push them up with his index finger allowing her to really see his brown eyes, a sparkle in them that she knew was because he saw her. A wave of warmth flooded her body as she thought about the scene.

She'd never felt this strongly about a guy before. It was true that before Henry she'd never been longer than a couple months without a boyfriend, since she turned 16 and her grandfather gave her permission to date. Boyfriend was actually a strong word. She was never without a boy. She usually moved on long before the word "commitment" could be used, or even before anything physical could happen. She was pretty, reasonably athletic-although not particularly graceful, and she wasn't afraid to try new things. It made her popular in the high school crowd and so far, she'd found her fair share of guys her freshman year. Elizabeth was out to have fun. She didn't want a relationship, at least until she met Henry McCord.

She first saw Henry at Freshman Orientation her first week on campus. There was a group of sophomore students who came back early to do a panel discussion about campus life as a freshman. She walked in with three or four guys, all vying for her attention. Elizabeth flirted with all of them, laughing at their ridiculous come-ons. She sat near the front of the lecture hall, bringing her posse with her, and caught the eye of a guy standing on the floor with a few other students.

Henry looked at the young woman that sat only four rows from the front. She was pretty, her long blond waves falling off her shoulders. Her eyes were a bright ocean blue and her laugh was beautiful. He watched her for a few minutes before turning away. It seemed she had plenty of company to keep her busy and casual dating wasn't his cup of tea. He turned back to the group he was with and joined back in.

It was fifteen minutes later that Elizabeth took notice of the young man with the sandy brown hair and hazel eyes seated third from the left on the panel before her. She squinted at his name tag, when he leaned back and laced his fingers behind his head. "Henry," she murmured to herself. "I need to meet him."

As soon as the discussion ended, she brushed off the guys, sending them to lunch without her. She made her way down the few steps to the floor and approached the small group that Henry was a part of. "Excuse me," she said, when there was a break in conversation. "I just wanted to thank all of you for coming back early to do this presentation. It was really very helpful."

"Sure thing, it wasn't anything big. I'm Joanie. This is Samantha-who goes by Sam, Elliot, Henry and Lisa."

"Hi. I'm Elizabeth. It was nice to meet you all." She gave them a wide smile and then directed it at Henry. "I'm off to lunch. I just thought I'd say thanks."

"You're welcome," Elliot said for the group and as soon as she started up the steps, he pushed an elbow into Henry's side. "Somebody's got the hots for you," he said under his breath, chuckling softly.

"Yeah, me and everyone else. Did you see the group of guys hanging on her coattails when she walked in?" Henry muttered.

"Ah, so you noticed her too." Lisa grinned at him. "It's the beginning of the end. Henry just noticed a girl."

"Oh would you stop? She is pretty, but I don't have the patience to fight off a hundred other guys to see if she has anything but looks. I've got other things to do." Henry said with finality.

"Right, because you have your nose stuck in a book 24/7. Isn't that right Professor?" Sam chimed in.

"I'm going to get lunch. I'm tired of listening to the peanut gallery offer commentary on my life." Henry said, as he walked up the stairs and away from the group.

"Aww, hell Henry. Don't go getting all ticked off. We've got to torment someone. Just so happens that you are the lucky person today," Elliot said.

"Um, yeah. I'm pretty sure you were all giving me crap yesterday," Lisa added. Henry turned and shrugged good naturedly and the rest of the group followed after him.

Elizabeth was sitting in the cafeteria when the group of sophomores came walking in. Elizabeth took note of them immediately, especially the one with the sandy brown hair. Just then he glanced her way and she gave him a dazzling smile. Henry just turned away and picked up his tray and headed across the room to get an entree.

Elizabeth was a little perturbed if she was honest with herself. How dare he ignore her? She didn't think that had ever happened before and she didn't like it one bit. Now it was going to be a mission to get Henry to notice her.

Henry caught her watching him and when she gave him a big smile, he turned away, trying to be kinder than he wanted to be. She was still surrounded by the guys from earlier in the lecture hall and she seemed to have accumulated a few more. He just needed to eat and leave.

By the end of first semester, Henry was having a serious problem. This girl, Elizabeth, seemed to show up everywhere he was, and while she never spoke to him, she always shot him that dazzling smile, and those eyes, God, he didn't want think about her eyes. Occasionally, he thought that he might actually go up and talk to her, but the fact that she was always surrounded by other guys, made him decide otherwise. Ball games, meals, special lectures, parties, it never failed, she was close by, and so were the others.

It was Wednesday of finals week. Henry trudged into the library at 9 am, coffee in hand, hoping to get just a little more studying in before his test at 11. He rounded the corner to sit in his favorite out of the way space and there she was, sitting sideways in the leather chair, her legs dangling off the side and crossed at the ankle. Her hair was pulled up in a messy bun, with two pencils sticking out of it and she was focused on what she was reading, tapping her pen on the edge of the page and biting her lower lip in concentration. Most noticeably, she was by herself, and Henry's stomach suddenly felt unsettled.

He nervously cleared his throat and she looked up and smiled, that big wide smile that he knew she only used on him. A fact he knew, because he had watched her all semester long. "I see you found my secret spot," he said.

"Oh," she blushed. "Is this your spot? I can move. I didn't know."

"That's alright. I can sit here." Henry set his things down on the opposite side of the coffee table between them. "Where's your fan club?" She gave him an odd look. "You know, the group of miscellaneous guys you seem to travel with."

"I don't know. I don't keep tabs on them. They usually find me, not the other way around." She stated it as a matter of fact and Henry was a little unnerved by her tone.

"I just assumed that you were going out with them."

"Wow! You're funny. You make me sound quite a bit cooler than I am. I have been on a date or two with most of them, because I like to go out and have fun, but I'm not interested in any of them, and they know it. I'm not really sure why they keep hanging around. Maybe it's my magnetic personality?" She laughed.

Henry settled back in the chair, trying to decide how serious she was. It was then that she flung her legs off the arm of the chair and spun around, put her elbows on her knees and looked him dead in the eye. "There's only one guy that I am even remotely interested in getting to know and he won't give me the time of day."

'Oh really. And who's that?" The question flew out of Henry's mouth before his better judgment could stop it.

"You. But, that ship's about to sail because I'm studying abroad next semester, so we'll see if I'm still interested when I come back." She dropped her book in her backpack and slung it over her shoulder as she stood. "You can have your spot back. Goodbye Henry."

Henry didn't move, but replayed those few minutes over and over again, wondering what kind of giant mistake he might have just made.

Henry didn't see Elizabeth again until the middle of October of that next year. She was sitting with a group of girls, focused on their conversation and she didn't see him. He was shocked to realize that he missed the big smile she would give him when she saw him. Henry went on about his day, but his thoughts never really strayed far from Elizabeth.

The night before Halloween, the Student Activities Office had arranged a Halloween Party and Hayride for all of the students. Henry walked around the practice fields where all kinds of various booths had been set up. His friends hadn't arrived yet and Henry was feeling a little out of place when he heard a familiar voice at his side. "Long time no see, stranger." The smile crept up on his face even before he turned to face her.

"Elizabeth. It's been quite a while. How have you been?" Henry was actually excited to get to talk to her.

"I'm good." She grinned at him. "If you'll notice, I'm missing my fan club. Isn't that what you called them?"

"I don't even remember now. Did they find someone else to hang around?" Henry queried.

"They found girlfriends I suppose." She shrugged. "And you, did you find a girlfriend in my absence?"

"I wasn't ever really looking for someone," Henry stated.

"Me either. So why don't you tell me about yourself, Mr. Henry McCord." Elizabeth shot Henry that dazzling smile as she hooked her arm through his and they walked off together.