Dance with Me [h.s] (Completed)

Chapter 18

On Sunday morning, Zayn picks me up and drives me to the studio Harry has setup for us to use. It's so close to my apartment that I could have walked but I know Zayn wanted us to go together. The studio is on the sixth floor of a office type building and has a large window that faces out to the city below.

"Hey," I say to Harry when I see him. "This is Zayn. Zayn, this is Harry."

I know they met before but that was under highly charged circumstances and I felt a proper introduction was necessary. I watch them simply nod at each other, neither of them bothering to try and shake hands.

Zayn and I sit and change into our dance shoes and then we begin stretching. When I start doing the stretch that Harry taught me, I notice the sides of his mouth pull up, probably from the memory of my legs on his shoulders.

When I think that Harry has run his hands through his hair enough times in impatience, I stand up and Zayn follows me to Harry. He places his hand on my back as we walk and judging by the vein about to pop in Harry's temple, he might call this whole thing off before it starts.

He manages to calm himself enough, but only when Zayn removes his hand. Harry has a laptop set up and I can see our Cha Cha Cha queued up. He presses play and begins dissecting our dance, pausing it often to point out errors and sections that don't work. Zayn bristles at the critique but somehow I don't; I guess experiencing it once before prepared me for the harshness of it. When he's finished, Zayn speaks.

"If it was so shit, then how did we win?" he asks just as annoyed as I was l

"You won because everyone else was mediocre not because you were amazing. Plus, you had Peter, Carolyn and Natasha on the judging panel. They're soft. The judges at the New York Invitational will not go as easy on you."

"Okay, well what's your plan then, coach?" he says sarcastically, but it only makes Harry smirk at his attempt to be rude.

"I have a whole new routine for each one of your dances."

"Whoa, whoa, whoa! You want us to learn FIVE new dances before New York. FIVE?!" Zayn asks like it's the most outrageous idea he's ever heard.

"Yeah, I do," Harry answers as if it's the only solution.

Zayn finally turns his body to face me to judge my reaction.

"Why are you so calm?! You heard what he said, right?"

"I did," I say cautiously.

"And?!" he says completely exasperated.

"I think he's right. I watch the videos back now and I see all the areas we could improve in and how the routines could be better," my calmness not all matching his anxiousness.

"But CiCi, five routines in three weeks?! It's impossible!"

"It's the only way we go to Worlds and if we aren't aiming for Worlds then we might as well just quit right now."

Zayn stares at me and I stare back. Harry impatiently sighs like he would rather be anywhere but here, watching us two dummies having a stare off.

"Show us. The new routine," Zayn finally utters the words.

Harry doesn't hesitate and approaches me, immediately grabbing my hand to lead me into the middle of the room. When we get there, he begins to slowly show the steps for the new routine. He stops every now and again and begrudgingly lets Zayn take his place as he learns the steps with me. He shouts corrections at us as we dance and we try to keep up with his commands.

After dancing for two hours, we stop and take a break. I sit on the floor exhausted and Zayn leaves the studio to use the bathroom.

"You're a better dancer than him," Harry says, within seconds of Zayn leaving.