Too Close

Left Foot First

So this chapter is dedicated to the absolutely adorable @aramella. She is terribly sweet, and provided the last little push of inspiration I needed to complete this chapter, so go give her love! She is an awesome writer. I hope this chapter is alright, and as always, tell me if anything doesn't make sense.

Enjoy

--LTT

“No Liam, the man always leads with his left foot in the foxtrot; always.” When he didn’t acknowledge that he understood her, she asked,

“You do know your lefts and rights correct? Or are you confused about-”

“Left foot! Got it.” with a sheepish look Liam was adamantly wiggling his left foot as if to prove his point.

“Good. Let’s go again.” She began the count again.

----

The station was kind enough to give all the contestants an extra week of rehearsals to get as many ballroom basics down before the show began in full swing. They were reaching the end of their first week of rehearsals and she had to admit, Liam wasn’t half bad. He had a decent sense of rhythm and could remember choreography well so at this point they were cleaning up small details and perfecting things like his frame and the ‘rise and fall’ momentum of the foxtrot.

“Remember, beats one and three.” He added emphasis as she watched them travel across the floor. Another thing that impressed her about Liam was that he was good at taking constructive criticism and putting it into effect almost immediately.

“Not quite that much emphasis Liam.” Sometimes he was a little too enthusiastic about doing what she asked. She watched them for a moment longer before pausing the music.

“Freeze!” she let out as they had started to release from hold. They put themselves back into hold as she walked around them tweaking and adjusting their positions. Relaxing a shoulder, tilting the head more, the changes were minor but noticeable enough for it to be worth it. She stood and looked at them for a minute before waving her hand at them,

“We’re done for today. I’ll see you next week, same time. Don’t get sucky over the weekend.” She casually gave them a wave as she went to collect her things on her way out the door.

----

“Softer Liam, there is emphasis, but it’s lighter than that. Feel the weight of it.” It was the day before the first performance and Liam had continued to improve, but he still struggled with the certain emphasis that was needed. He either lacked the emphasis at all, or he started heavily tromping around. She sighed and paused the music again,

“Alright, time to try something different.” She could tell that Liam was getting frustrated with himself by the way his eyebrows were drawn together so forcefully. She felt bad for harping on this one specific detail so much; it made her feel like she was kicking a puppy when his face went all scrunchy. She walked towards Liam and gestured for Danielle to go over to their stereo.

----

“Start it from the beginning please.” Liam looked confused as she raised her arms for hold. Before now, she had either danced alongside them as a couple or simply verbalized what she wanted. Needless to say, Liam was hesitant about putting her in hold. She rolled her eyes,

“For heaven’s sake Liam, I won’t bite unless you give me reason to.” She paused before saying in all seriousness,

“-and not using the correct hold with me would be a reason for me to bite you.” He quickly swept her into a secure hold.